Lok Sabha polls 2014: Vietnam upbeat about prospect of BJP victory

NEW DELHI: Vietnam is upbeat about the prospect of BJP’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections, hoping a government led by the saffron party will deepen security ties as the two countries share a good rapport since the 1979 China-Vietnam conflict.

Vietnam’s importance can be gauged from the fact that President Pranab Mukherjee is expected to visit Hanoi either in August or September, which will be among the first two overseas trips that he will undertake after a new government is sworn in. The other is Bhutan.

Interestingly, Vietnam’s premier think-tank on international and strategic studies will sign MoU with pro-BJP think tank Vivekanada International Foundation this week for academic and research cooperation, a senior official in the Vietnamese government told ET.

"While we have expanded our strategic and defence ties with India during the last couple of years, the full potential of this partnership was not harnessed. We are more hopeful that the BJPled government would take ties to the next level by strengthening defence partnership," the Vietnamese official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.