Hanoi: Indian Naval Ships (INS) Udaygiri and Kavaratti arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday on a port call to foster professional exchanges and further strengthen maritime cooperation between India and Vietnam.
“Indian Navy ships INS Udayagiri and INS Kavaratti, under the command of Rear Admiral Alok Ananda, YSM, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, arrived at Ho Chi Minh City on a port call to foster professional exchanges and further strengthen maritime cooperation between India and Vietnam,” the Indian Embassy in Hanoi wrote on X.
“Maritime cooperation is one of the strongest pillars of the Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Vietnam,” it added.
The delegation includes 610 officers and sailors. They were welcomed by representatives from Vietnam’s military, diplomatic agencies and Ho Chi Minh City authorities.
In May, during the visit of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Vietnam President To Lam, both countries had reaffirmed that defence and security cooperation will remain a key pillar of the India- Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
New Delhi and Hanoi commended the effective implementation of the Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030, which continues to guide the growing defence ties between the two countries.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), To Lam and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had emphasised the maritime domain as one of the key pillars of their cooperation and called for enhanced maritime cooperation between the two sides.
They also noted that the bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue has fostered mutual trust and better understanding of respective concerns and underscored the importance of convening it regularly.
Vietnam thanked India for the invitation to assign an International Liaison Officer at the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) at Gurugram, India, to strengthen cooperation in Maritime Domain Awareness. Prime Minister Modi welcomed Vietnam’s joining the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and looked forward to enhanced cooperation under that framework.
(IANS)
