Giang highlighted the great potential for cooperation between the two countries and called on the defence ministries to further promote friendship, mutual understanding, and trust, making bilateral defence ties more practical and effective.

Affirming that Vietnam always treasures its traditional friendship with India, he expressed his belief that the Indian delegation’s visit, led by Singh, will be a success, contributing to strengthening bilateral relations in general and defence cooperation in particular.

The Vietnamese minister appreciated India’s support for Vietnam in recent years, especially in training hundreds of Vietnamese military officers in various fields, and in providing aid packages and preferential credit.

He also noted bilateral defence cooperation has expanded continuously and achieved tangible results as seen in regular mutual visits, consultations, young officers’ exchanges, training cooperation, joint efforts in peacekeeping operations, and coordination at multilateral forums.

For his part, Singh noted India and Vietnam share many similarities in culture, people, and history, and that defence cooperation is one of the important driving forces of bilateral relations.

He expressed confidence that the outcomes of the 15th Defence Policy Dialogue, co-chaired by the Indian Defence Secretary and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien, will further deepen the defence partnership between the two countries.

ASEAN Summit: Vietnamese foreign minister meets Lao, Indian counterparts

Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung held separate meetings with his Lao and Indian counterparts in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 27, on the occasion of the 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits.