PM Modi holds talks with Vietnamese counterpart

New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held wide-ranging talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh to further expand the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Chinh arrived in Delhi on Tuesday night on a three-day visit that is aimed at further expanding the comprehensive strategic ties between the two countries.

“PM @narendramodi extended a warm welcome to PM Pham Minh Chinh of Vietnam at Hyderabad House,” External Affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on ‘X’.

“Substantive discussions to further energise the India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on the agenda,” he said ahead of the talks.

The strategic ties between India and Vietnam have been on an upswing in the last few years.

In July last year, India gifted its in-service missile corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam in reflection of growing bilateral strategic and defence partnership amid common concerns over China’s increasingly aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea.

It was for the first time that India handed over a fully operational corvette to any friendly foreign country.

Vietnam, an important country of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), has territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea region.

India has oil exploration projects in the Vietnamese waters in the South China Sea.

India and Vietnam are boosting their maritime security cooperation in the last few years to protect common interests.