Rajnath Singh meets Vietnamese counterpart Giang, confirms official visit to Vietnam

Defence Minister Rajanth Singh on Thursday held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Sr Lt Gen Phan Van Giang and confirmed his official visit to Vietnam.

"Had an excellent talk with the Defence Minister of Vietnam, Sr Lt Gen Phan Van Giang today. India and Vietnam have a strong and effective relationship. India attaches great importance to bilateral defence cooperation with Vietnam," tweeted Rajnath Singh.

"I thank my Vietnamese counterpart for inviting me on an official visit to his beautiful and amazing country. I look forward to it," added Singh.

India sees Vietnam as a trustworthy friendly foreign country with shared strategic concerns and common interests. Both countries are collaborating in multiple domains like defence cooperation, trade and the geopolitical sphere.

Apart from this, both countries share common values like multilateralism based on equality, respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of all nations, respect for international law and order.

"Both India and Vietnam share a long-standing tradition of helping each other in difficult times. We have achieved substantial progress in defence industry cooperation in recent years. India and Vietnam continue to make forward movement in overcoming the challenges posed by COVID-19," tweeted Singh.

India and Vietnam in December 2020 had held a virtual summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc. India and Vietnam have held a number of meetings and consultations this year leading up to the summit.

PM Modi, during his remarks at the summit, lauded Vietnam's important role in India's Act East Policy and as an "important partner of our Indo-Pacific Vision." He highlighted the "long-term and strategic view" of the India-Vietnam relationship and the breadth and depth of their bilateral ties. He also underlined the importance of their shared purpose of "peace, stability and prosperity" for the Indo-Pacific region.

( With inputs from ANI )