India reciprocated by agreeing to supply patrol vehicles to guard its surrounding seas.

The Vietnam Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh is slated to visit India later this year to firm up defence cooperation between the two countries and sign some agreements.

On being questioned the visiting Vietnam Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh after conclusion of the 15th India-Vietnam Joint Commission Meeting here on Thursday said : “we did discuss the issues of South China Sea and East China Sea. There is a need to respect the international law for resolving the issue. Rights of all countries should be respected. All Indian exploration blocs in the region are in our exclusive economic zones (EEZs).”

However, the Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid who co-chaired the 15th India-Vietnam JCM with Pham, speaking Indian viewpoint on the issue said “bilateral issues need to be resolved through discussions. But in this case convergence of ASEAN viewpoint is vital.”

On the occasion an Agreement on the $19.5 million line of credit (LOC) for setting up Nam Trai-IV hydropower project and Binh Bo pumping station by the CMD, Exim Bank of India and Vietnamese Vice Minister of Finance. Thus India’s 17 LoCs to Vietnam totals $164.5 million
India has also agreed to consider earmarking $100 million under the Buyer's Credit under the National Export Insurance Account (BC-NEIA) for use by Vietnam.

India is slated to establish an Indian Cultural Centre in Hanoi this year. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is about to finalise an agreement on conservation of the ancient remains of the Cham Civilization at My Son.

Both sides reviewed bilateral relations since the establishment of strategic partnership between the two countries in 2007. They reviewed the implementation of activities agreed for 2011-13 under bilateral cooperation and exchanges and agreed to a plan of activities for 2013-15.

“We have agreed to consolidate our activities and add greater content to the partnership and bilateral relations in the fields of defence and security, trade and investment, science and technology, information technology, capacity building and human resource development, agriculture, education & culture and other areas of common interest, “ said Khurshid and added that both sides also “identified areas of future cooperation.”

The Vietnamese Minister Pham said that apart from cooperation in politics, economy, security and defence, science and technology, culture and education, areas like high technology, oil and gas, tourism and agricultural production have great potential for bilateral cooperation. He called for sustained exchanges at high levels.

Pham suggested setting up of a joint trade commission under the existing JCM for boosting bilateral trade between the two countries to $17 billion by 2015.

He thanked India for supporting Vietnam’s candidature to UN Human Rights Commission and International Hydrographics Organisation.
Khurshid reciprocated by saying : “Vietnam has regularly reiterated its support for India's candidature for permanent membership of an expanded UNSC. It has also signed the G-4 Draft Resolution on reforms of the UNSC.”

India-Vietnam bilateral trade has grown to $6.1 billion in 2012-13 and is on track to cross the target of $7 billion by 2015. Investments by Indian companies totals about $936 million in 86 projects in Vietnam in sectors such as oil and gas exploration, mineral exploration and processing, sugar manufacturing, agro-chemicals, IT, and agricultural processing.

Recently, Vietnam has chosen Tata Power as developer for a $ 1.8 billion 2X660 MW Long Phu-2 Thermal Power Project in Soc Trang Province in southern Vietnam, despite strong competition from Korean and Russian companies. It will be the single largest Indian investment in Vietnam when it comes through and will give a strong boost to India’s economic cooperation and the strategic partnership.

The MoU between the two central banks, namely the Reserve Bank of India and the State Bank of Vietnam, signed in 2012, will enable Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank to upgrade their representative offices that they opened in Ho Chi Minh City in February 2003 and March 2008 respectively into full-fledged branches in near future.

The two countries have strong cooperation in capacity building and human resources development. Vietnam has been participating actively in training programmes under Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme. Presently, 150 ITEC slots are being offered to Vietnam every year along with 16 scholarships under the General Cultural Scholarship Scheme (GCSS), 14 scholarships under the Educational Exchange Programme (EEP) and 10 scholarships under the MGC Scholarship Scheme.

India has set up a $2 million Vietnam-India Advanced Resource Centre in ICT (ARC-ICT) in Hanoi and is providing a PARAM Supercomputer, costing Rs 4.7crore, as a grant, for use in multiple applications. The Vietnam-India Entrepreneurship Development Centre (VIEDC) and a Vietnam-India English Language Training Center (VICELT) have been established with Indian assistance under the IAI (Initiative for ASEAN Integration) as well. An IBSA funded Rice Seed Improvement Project in Danang is ongoing.