Vietnam–India relations expected to gain fresh boost towards more substantive cooperation

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Le Minh Hung’s participation in the 18th BRICS Summit and bilateral engagements in India on September 12–13 are expected to give a fresh impetus to the Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries, as bilateral ties continue to develop extensively, substantively and effectively.

Strong and wide-ranging bilateral ties

Vietnam and India share a long-standing traditional friendship that has been nurtured and continuously developed by generations of leaders of both countries. The two countries established diplomatic ties on January 7, 1972, opening up a new chapter in their friendship and cooperation.

The relationship has been strengthened by ideological affinities between President Ho Chi Minh and Mahatma Gandhi, as well as the close and faithful friendship between Ho Chi Minh and Jawaharlal Nehru – India’s first Prime Minister. These ties laid a solid foundation for bilateral relations, bringing the two nations shoulder to shoulder through the upheavals of history.

The two countries wholeheartedly supported and assisted each other during their struggles for national independence, and later in national reconstruction, reform and socio-economic development.

Bilateral ties have steadily advanced through key milestones – the Joint Declaration on the Framework of Comprehensive Cooperation as they enter for the 21st Century in May 2003, the establishment of the Strategic Partnership in July 2007, and its elevation to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in September 2016.

The relationship reached a new level in May 2026 during General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam’s state visit to India, when the two sides agreed to elevate bilateral relations to an Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the spirit of "shared vision, strategic convergence, substantive cooperation", heralding a new phase of development for bilateral tiess.

They also agreed to strive for balanced and sustainable bilateral trade of 25 billion USD by 2030 and to remove trade barriers to facilitate market access.

Over the past decade, India has been one of Vietnam’s leading comprehensive strategic partners in the region, with the two sides enjoying a high level of political trust, many shared strategic interests, and a longstanding foundation of cultural and people-to-people bonds.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is an important partner of India in the latter’s Act East Policy and in the Indo-Pacific region, based on shared interests and the promotion of peace, stability and prosperity in the region. These are important stepping stones for further advancing Vietnam–India relations in a stronger, more effective and deeper manner, while fully tapping into the potential and strengths of both countries.

Over the past decade, since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, political trust has been consolidated, defence – security cooperation become a strategic pillar, and economic, trade and investment ties continued to grow.

India is currently Vietnam’s eighth-largest trading partner while Vietnam is India’s fifth-largest partner in ASEAN. Their trade more than tripled from 5.4 billion USD in 2016 to 16.46 billion USD in 2025. In the first seven months of 2026, it hit 11.78 billion USD, up 28.4% year on year.

As of June 2026, India had 524 valid investment projects worth 1.183 billion USD in Vietnam, ranking 26th among 154 countries and territories investing in the Southeats Asian country. Vietnam had 30 projects in India with a total investment of nearly 150.5 million USD as of March 2026, including Vingroup’s electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu.

Cooperation has also advanced in science – technology, education – training, culture and people-to-people exchanges. Nearly 500,000 Indian visitors travelled to Vietnam in the first half of 2026, up 45.5% year on year. India continues to provide Vietnam with nearly 200 short- and long-term scholarships annually, and support the conservation and restoration of the Cham Towers at the UNESCO-listed My Son heritage site in central Da Nang city.

Science and technology collaboration has gained new momentum in several areas suited to the countries' needs, particularly innovation, robotics, startups, nuclear energy, and biotechnology.

At multilateral forums, Vietnam and India have also closely coordinated and supported each other, especially within the framework of the United Nations and at ASEAN-led regional forums.

Making Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership substantive

Vietnamese Ambassador to India, Nepal and Bhutan Trinh Minh Manh said PM Hung’s working visit comes shortly after General Secretary and President Lam’s state visit to India in May, and at a time bilateral ties enter a new phase. The Vietnamese PM’s meetings with Indian leaders on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit will provide an important opportunity to push ahead with realising high-level agreements and common perceptions.

The immediate priority is to give stronger momentum to economic cooperation, striving to raise bilateral trade to 25 billion USD by 2030, while further facilitating access for goods from the two countries to each other’s markets and promoting bilateral investment, Manh said.

There remains a huge room for the two sides to form new growth drivers in science – technology, innovation, digital transformation, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals and energy – areas matching Vietnam’s development needs and India’s growing strengths, he added.

The diplomat expects the two countries to further step up infrastructure, aviation, logistics and supply chain connectivity, helping align economic ties more closely with their high level of political trust./.

VNA