$100-million defence line of credit, bilateral ties: PM Modi’s virtual summit with Vietnamese counterpart

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a virtual summit with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Monday. While the scheduled meeting will cap a string of high-level exchanges between the two sides this year, it is being held at a time when both the countries are grappling with China’s aggressive actions in the region.

Here’s everything you need to know about the India-Vietnam virtual summit:

1. According to the official press release, the two leaders will exchange views on wide-ranging bilateral, regional and global issues and provide guidance for the future development of India-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership during the summit.

2. A number of agreements or announcements are likely to be made, covering areas such as defence, energy, development partnership and healthcare.

3. The two leaders will also talk about the implementation of India’s $100-million defence line of credit for 12 high-speed guard boats for Vietnam. New opportunities in renewable energy cooperation will also be explored.

4. The bilateral summit will also focus on India’s development and capacity building assistance through initiatives such as the quick impact projects, Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) initiatives, projects in water resource management in Vietnam’s Mekong delta, digital connectivity and heritage conservation.

4. Amid the pandemic, the two leaders will also take stock of the regional and global landscape and exchange views on their respective strategies to deal with the deadly virus.

5. This year, vice president of Vietnam Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh also came to India in February on an official visit. Both the prime ministers even had a telephone conversation in April to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic. Additionally, the two leaders met virtually during the 17th ASEAN-India Summit last month.

6. In 2016, after a decade of being strategic partners, India and Vietnam formally upgraded their relations to a ‘comprehensive strategic partnership.’ India is one of the few countries with which Vietnam has such a partnership.

Source: Hindustan Times