India-Vietnam ties broaden as defence, critical minerals and trade take centre stage

India and Vietnam are moving to deepen cooperation across defence, trade, critical minerals, energy and space, with recent developments giving substance to the Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership announced between the two countries in May.

The latest push has come in the defence sector. India and Vietnam have agreed to accelerate defence technology sharing and defence-industrial cooperation, including efforts towards joint production of military equipment, according to recent reporting. The two sides have also discussed strengthening maritime cooperation and advancing joint initiatives.

The developments come days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.

Their discussions covered defence and security, including a proposed 2+2 mechanism, as well as energy, rare earths, space and the target of taking bilateral trade to $25 billion by 2030.

The latest developments also follow the 19th India-Vietnam Joint Commission meeting held in New Delhi on Sep 14. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who co-chaired the meeting with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung, said the session provided an opportunity to review implementation of commitments and translate political momentum at the highest level into concrete outcomes.

That focus on implementation was built into the upgraded partnership announced in May.

During Vietnamese President To Lam's state visit to India, the two countries elevated their relationship to an Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and agreed on a new bilateral trade target of $25 billion by 2030.

The joint statement identified defence, security, maritime cooperation, trade and investment, science and technology, space and atomic energy among the areas where regular institutional engagement would be strengthened.

The economic component of the partnership also has specific targets and mechanisms. The two sides agreed to reinforce government and business cooperation to increase two-way trade, investment and technological partnership. They also agreed on the $25 billion trade goal for 2030.

Critical minerals and rare earths form another concrete part of the relationship. The May joint statement called for greater collaboration in critical and emerging technologies, including space, nuclear technology and critical minerals.

It also welcomed an agreement between Indian Rare Earths Ltd and Vietnam's Institute for Technology of Radioactive and Rare Elements on cooperation in rare earths and called for its early implementation.

Space cooperation is similarly linked to specific projects. The two countries noted progress towards establishing an ASEAN-India tracking, data reception station and data processing facility in Vietnam, with Vietnam agreeing to expedite the remaining processes.

Energy is another area identified in the upgraded partnership. India and Vietnam agreed to enhance cooperation in clean and renewable energy, while also noting ongoing cooperation in the peaceful uses of atomic energy. The joint statement said Vietnam had invited India to participate in its nuclear power sector.

The sequence of developments since May therefore shows a relationship in which political commitments are increasingly being linked to specific areas of cooperation, including defence technology and production, trade, rare earths, energy and space.

The immediate focus now is on implementing those commitments. With the latest defence discussions and the Joint Commission's emphasis on translating high-level political momentum into tangible outcomes, the coming phase of India-Vietnam ties is set to be measured increasingly through progress in these identified areas rather than through the partnership's formal upgrade alone.