General Phan Văn Giang and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh review the Guard of Honour of the Việt Nam People's Army during the official welcome ceremony for the latter in Hà Nội on May 19. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence General Phan Văn Giang and Indian Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh held talks in Hà Nội on Tuesday, pledging to deepen bilateral defence cooperation following the recent elevation of bilateral ties.

General Giang said Singh’s visit carried special significance as Việt Nam and India mark the 10th anniversary of their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and recently upgraded ties to an Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm’s state visit to India earlier this month.

The Vietnamese minister praised India’s socio-economic achievements and growing international role, noting that bilateral defence cooperation has expanded across multiple areas under existing agreements, including the Joint Vision Statement on Việt Nam–India Defence Partnership Towards 2030 signed in 2022.

He highlighted progress in high-level exchanges, defence dialogues, training, cooperation between military services, UN peacekeeping, defence industry collaboration and mutual support at multilateral forums.

General Giang thanked India for supporting military education and training in Việt Nam, including a US$1 million non-refundable grant to build a foreign language classroom for the Air Force Officer College under Việt Nam's Air Defence-Air Force Service, as well as other concessional credit packages.

He called for both countries to continue implementing agreed cooperation mechanisms, particularly in officer training, defence industry cooperation, cybersecurity, military medicine, disaster relief and peacekeeping operations. The Vietnamese minister also invited Indian defence enterprises to participate in the 3rd edition of the Việt Nam Defence Expo scheduled for December 2026.

General Phan Văn Giang and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attend the inauguration of the Air Force Officers College's English language laboratory funded by the Indian Government on May 19. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

Discussing regional and international issues, General Giang reiterated Việt Nam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification of relations.

He reaffirmed Việt Nam's 'Four No’s' defence policy and stressed that disputes in the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) should be resolved peacefully in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and hoped that the negotiations for substantive and effective Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea should be concluded soon.

On behalf of the delegation, Indian minister Singh thanked General Giang and Việt Nam's defence ministry for the warm reception, expressing his honour that his official visit to Việt Nam coincided with the 136th birth anniversary of President Hồ Chí Minh – a great visionary leader admired and respected by the Indian people.

Emphasising that India and Việt Nam share a close friendship founded on defence cooperation and mutual trust, Singh said the visit was of special significance as the two countries mark the 10th anniversary of their Strategic Partnership, reflecting the depth and closeness of bilateral ties.

The Indian minister also praised the positive outcomes of bilateral defence cooperation in recent years, saying the achievements demonstrated the high level of trust between the two sides and contributed to building a strong defence relationship for mutual benefit and future development.

Vietnamese Defence Minister, General Phan Văn Giang holds talks with Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on May 19. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

Singh expressed hope that both sides would continue to effectively implement agreed areas of cooperation in the coming period, with priority given to delegation exchanges at all levels, training and capacity-building cooperation, and collaboration between military services and branches. He affirmed that the Indian defence ministry stood ready to continue offering training scholarships to its Vietnamese counterpart, thereby helping to further deepen practical, effective and substantive bilateral defence cooperation commensurate with the Việt Nam–India Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

At the conclusion of the talks, the two ministers witnessed the handover of a cooperation agreement between Việt Nam's Telecommunications University and India’s Military College of Telecommunication Engineering. They also inaugurated a symbolic foreign language classroom project funded by the Indian government. — VNS