India and Vietnam on Tuesday stressed the importance of maintaining peace, stability and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region and resolved to work closely in line with their “enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership”.As part of his visit to Hanoi, defence minister Rajnath Singh met his Vietnamese counterpart General Phan Van Giang. “Both the ministers reviewed the growing defence partnership between the two countries and discussed ways to further deepen cooperation in maritime security, defence industry, training and regional stability,” the defence ministry said.“The two sides discussed avenues to expand cooperation in several areas, including military training, defence industry collaboration, maritime security, capacity building, UN peacekeeping, cybersecurity and high-level exchanges,” the ministry said.Following the talks, India and Vietnam signed an agreement for cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence and quantum technology. The defence minister’s visit to Hanoi has come days after India and Vietnam elevated their ties to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership.The two defence ministers virtually inaugurated a language lab at Air Force Officers’ College in Vietnam. This lab has been established with Indian assistance. Rajnath also announced a decision to set up an AI lab at Telecommunications University in Nha Trang.Rajnath posted on X, “It is my honor to extend greetings to the General Secretary and President of Vietnam on this visit to Vietnam. I have conveyed the warm regards of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reaffirmed India’s commitment to continuing to deepen defense cooperation, a key pillar of the Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between our two countries.Later, Rajnath left for Seoul, the second leg of his two-nation tour. Both India and South Korea are looking to deepen strategic military cooperation and expand scope of bilateral engagement.
