Vietnam – Did India reach out to deal with China?

Vietnam and India continue to deepen bilateral ties with many recent high-level meetings, in the context of mutual concern over China’s movements in the Indo-Pacific region.

More recently, on August 25, an online session of the Vietnam-India Joint Committee on Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technological Cooperation took place under the chairmanship of the two foreign ministers. country.

Among the many topics discussed at the meeting, China’s activities in the South China Sea and the India-China Royal Line of Control (LAC) were mentioned, with the two sides summarizing the new developments. Best for each other, HindusTimes reported.

The Vietnamese government website said the two sides “affirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight, and peacefully resolving disputes in the South China Sea over the international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and calls on the parties to respect the ruling of the UNCLOS dispute settlement mechanisms. “

A few days earlier, Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau met with Foreign Minister Harsh Shringla and updated him on the latest tensions in the South China Sea, after China sent out the H-6J bomber. . to the island of Phu Lam, belonging to the Paracel Islands.

On August 4, India’s Ambassador to Vietnam, Pranay Verma, met with Politburo member the Permanent Secretariat Tran Quoc Vuong, who “appreciated the Indian government’s position on the South China Sea issue.”

India has a comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam, and the Indian oil and gas group ONGC Videsh is involved in oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea.

Vietnam wants India to continue to have a presence in oil and gas development in Vietnam, and India has repeatedly stated that its companies will continue to do business with Vietnam in Vietnamese waters. .

In the context of the strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, caused mainly by China, India and Vietnam, they actively support each other in multilateral forums, including the Security Council. United Nations, where both countries are non-permanent members.

Defense and security cooperation is considered one of the “pillars and assets” of the Vietnam-India bilateral relationship.

India has provided Vietnam with a $ 100 million credit package to purchase 12 high-speed patrol boats.

5 ships will be built at the Kattupalli factory, owned by the Larsen & Toubro group in India, and 7 ships will be built at the Hong Ha shipyard in Vietnam. The ships are expected to be completed by mid-2021.

India also gives Vietnam another credit package worth $ 500 million to buy defense equipment from this country.

It is not clear which equipment Vietnam will buy, but sources say Hanoi is interested in India’s Akash surface-to-air missile system and the Dhruv light helicopter, according to The Diplomat.

The discussion about the possibility of India selling Brahmos missile systems has also been going on for many years. After the conflict in the Galwan Valley, India should deploy the Brahmos and Akash systems and should not fear the Chinese response, defense experts say.

India has also recently supported training and shared experience in the training of peacekeeping forces for Vietnam.

China – India tension

Relations between China and India were extremely tense in mid-June, when a conflict in the Galwan Valley left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

The Galwan Valley is considered of strategic importance for both New Delhi and Beijing. It was the hot spot of the war between the two countries in 1962. The situation was quite peaceful until June 15 when the deadly conflict broke out.

Later, the Chinese accused Indian soldiers of first provoking violence by crossing the line of fact control and claimed sovereignty over the Galwan Valley.

In late June, the Indian government banned 59 China-related mobile phone apps on national security grounds.