India and Vietnam discuss defence ties, emphasise maintaining regional stability

Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and Vietnam Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Truong Thang on Sunday discussed advancing regional security and deepening the bilateral ‘Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ between the two countries. This meeting followed a high-level discussion between the prime ministers of both countries that took place on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. In a statement issued on Sunday, the Ministry of Defence said the discussions centred on accelerating joint initiatives, technology sharing and defence industrial collaboration. The two sides reaffirmed their shared commitment to expanding maritime and defence ties to ensure a peaceful, stable, and rule-based regional security architecture, it noted. The statement added that India and Vietnam strongly emphasised the value of close coordination in multilateral fora to address complex security dynamics and specifically highlighted the importance of active engagement under the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) construct.