Sushma Swaraj’s Vietnam visit opens up new avenues of cooperation

NEW DELHI: India’s look-east policy is gaining momentum under the BJP-led NDA government. After her visits to Myanmar, followed by Singapore and current one to Vietnam, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj is opening new vistas of cooperation with ASEAN members in strategic and economic spheres.

Vietnam has been India’s key defence and strategic partner in the region, with whom relations have grown away from public glare. Swaraj’s visit would prepare for President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Vietnam from September 14-17, followed by their PM Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to India in October, official sources told ET.

It is not often that the Indian President visits one country and its PM comes calling in back to back months. This shows significance of growing strategic partnership amid regional tensions following China’s claim in the South China Sea region, experts indicated. A major defence deal is in the offing, when Mukherjee visits Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, sources said. India has been a key defence hardware partner for Vietnam in naval equipment. As both countries have been using Russian military platform for decades, India and Vietnam complement each other on matters of training and spares. Vietnam is also seeking to import Brahmos missiles jointly manufactured by India and Russia.

Sources told ET from Hanoi that Sushma told PM Dung during her meeting on Monday that India appreciated Vietnam’s security and national defence capabilities and expects to become its partner. Indian Navy ships recently made a port call in Vietnam on their way back from India-US-Japan trilateral exercise off the coast of Japan.

The meeting also focused on doubling or tripling trade between the two countries, conclude negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement and launch a direct air route in the near future. Indian firms also have an interest in investing in infrastructure and signing deals with Vietnamese producers of corn and rice, as well as pangasius farming enterprises.