India considers Vietnam as a key pillar of its Act East Policy and an important partner in its Indo-Pacific vision
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will pay a State Visit to India from July 30 to August 1, 2024 for bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He is visiting at the invitation of Prime Minister Modi and is expected to be accompanied by a high level delegation including several Ministers, deputy Ministers and business leaders, according to information released by India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday (July 30, 2024).

According to the official schedule for the visit, Prime Minister Chinh will receive a ceremonial welcome at the Forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday (August 1, 2024) after which he will visit Raj Ghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. 

He will hold bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Modi who will also host a luncheon in his honour. This will be the fifth meeting between the two Prime Minister in the last few years. They met thrice in 2023 - on the sidelines of the COP28 Summit in Dubai in December, on the sidelines of the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia in September, and during the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan in May. They also met on the sidelines of the COP26 Summit in Glasgow, Ireland in November 2021.

While in New Delhi, Prime Minister Chinh is scheduled to call on President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is expected to call on the visiting Vietnamese Prime Minister.

India considers Vietnam as a key pillar of its Act East Policy and an important partner in its Indo-Pacific vision, the MEA said.

Strong Relations Across Diverse Sectors

India and Vietnam share historical linkages and existing relations are strong and multifaceted, encompassing diverse sectors ranging from economy to defence.

The relationship between the two countries was upgraded from a Strategic Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Vietnam in September 2016.

December 2020 was also an important milestone in bilateral ties as Prime Minister Modi and the then Vietnamese PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc co-chaired a virtual summit. It was here that they came out with the India-Vietnam Joint Vision for Peace, Prosperity and People.

In June 2022, Defence Ministers of the two countries signed a ‘Joint Vision Statement on India - Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030’. During his visit to Vietnam, Defence Minister Singh also handed over 12 High Speed Guard Boats to Vietnam at Hong Ha Shipyard in Hai Phong. The boats were constructed under the Government of India’s USD 100 million Defence Line of Credit to Vietnam.

Last year, in a strong demonstration of the growing defence ties between India and Vietnam, Indian Navy's Missile Corvette INS Kirpan left for the ASEAN nation as a gift from India to the country's naval force. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had announced the gifting of in-service missile corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam during the India visit of Minister of National Defence of Vietnam General Phan Van Gang on June 19, 2023.