The 15th India-Vietnam Defence Dialogue signalled a move from routine talks to deeper cooperation, with new deals on submarine rescue and defence industry to support stability in the Indo-Pacific, notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
India and Vietnam held the 15th Defence Policy Dialogue in Hanoi on November 10.
While India's Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh represented India, Vietnam was represented by Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, deputy minister of national defence. Both co-chaired the dialogue session. In the dialogue, both sides took significant steps to reinforce their defence partnership with the signing of two major agreements.
At the dialogue, the two sides exchanged views on regional and global situations and issues of shared concern.
Chien underlined that the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and India have been deepened.
Since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Vietnam, bilateral ties have grown increasingly substantive across all pillars, particularly in politics, diplomacy, and defence-security.
Both countries have deepened defence collaboration between the two countries in various areas, including delegation exchanges and high-level contacts, dialogue and consultation mechanisms, young officer exchanges, training and education, cooperation among services and arms, UN peacekeeping operations, and defence industry development.
Vietnam's foreign policy has remained fiercely independent with focus on self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation, and development, diversification and multilateralisation of external relations.
Vietnam is ready to cooperate with all countries and international organisations for peace and development.
There are 'Four No's' in Vietnam's defence policy that underlay in the country's defence strategy.
These are not participating in military alliances, not affiliating with one country to oppose another, not allowing foreign countries to establish military bases or use Vietnamese territory to oppose other countries, and not using force or threatening to use force in international relations.
Its stance on resolving disputes in the South China Sea by peaceful means based on international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) remains firm.
In the 15th Defence Dialogue, it was agreed that that both sides continue to strengthen delegation exchanges, particularly at the high level; maintain regular dialogue and consultation mechanisms, expand cooperation in training, UN peacekeeping, and defence industry; and promote the implementation of credit and grant assistance packages.
It was also suggested that both sides should explore new cooperation areas such as cybersecurity, military medicine, and search and rescue operations.
It is well known that the Vietnamese ministry of national defence supports India's efforts to enhance defence cooperation with ASEAN countries, particularly within the ASEAN defence ministers' meeting plus (ADMM+).
Vietnam is supportive of closer coordination with India in multilateral forums, especially those led by ASEAN.
From the Indian perspective, defence cooperation remains a key pillar in India-Vietnam relations, covering a wide range of fields including peacekeeping, professional exchanges, training, and defence industry collaboration.
The Vietnam-India Bilateral Exercise 2025 (VINBAX 2025), that opened in Vietnam on November 11, plays an important role in advancing bilateral defence ties. India has endorsed its support for expanding its scope and scale in the future.
The 15th India-Vietnam Defence Dialogue laid the roadmap for moving to next level with high-tech defence manufacturing and maritime focus.
In a significant move, both sides inked major defence accords, including a submarine rescue Memorandum of Agreement and a defence industry Letter of Intent, marking a new chapter in their Indo-Pacific security collaboration.
By this move, both formalised two landmark agreements aimed at deepening their defence cooperation.
These new pacts mark an elevated operational and strategic engagement, especially in maritime safety, defence manufacturing and emerging-domain security.
Since the time when bilateral ties were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016, the defence pillar of this partnership, especially in the maritime realm, has been a constant focus.
Understandably therefore, during the 15th Defence Dialogue, both sides reviewed progress in hydrography, capacity-building, ship-visits, peace-keeping cooperation and niche areas like artificial intelligence and shipyard modernisation.
Against the backdrop of an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific maritime environment, these discussions assume additional strategic weight.
The two key instruments signed during the Dialogue: These were:
a. A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on Mutual Submarine Search, Rescue Support and Cooperation, setting a formal mechanism for coordinated submarine distress operations and increased naval interoperability between the Indian Navy and the Vietnam people's navy in underwater operations and strengthen maritime search and rescue capabilities;
b. A Letter of Intent (LoI) on Defence Industry Cooperation, which paves the way for technology transfer, joint production, exchange of experts and design-manufacture linkages under India's Make in India and Vietnam's domestic defence modernisation drive.
The letter aims to facilitate collaboration in defence research, technology transfer, and joint production of systems and components. It reflects the shared emphasis on ensuring safe navigation and regional stability in Indo-Pacific waters.
What does the pact imply?
The pacts imply deepening maritime safety and under-sea operational readiness in an era of heightened submarine and maritime domain activity; and strengthening the defence-industrial base of both nations, supporting self-reliance while aligning with broader regional security imperatives.
Thus, the pacts demonstrate the evolving nature of India-Vietnam ties beyond diplomacy into concrete operational and industrial domains.
While the intentions of such cooperation and agreements are laudable, there are challenges ahead with regard to their implementation.
In the front of operational interoperability, submarine rescue operations require highly specialised skills, equipment, joint training and shared protocols. Coordinating across navies with different systems will take time.
Second, there could be technology transfer and joint-production risks. Defence industry collaboration often runs into hurdles such as export controls, IP issues, cost-sharing and aligning priorities of two sovereign defence ecosystems.
Third, there are regional security dynamics that could not be overlooked. As both nations deepen cooperation in sensitive domains, regional tensions (especially in the Indo-Pacific maritime theatre) could complicate implementation and external push-back may occur.
Fourth, sustaining momentum could be tricky as high-level agreements often need follow-through in terms of detailed working-groups, budgets and timelines. Without that, they risk becoming symbolic rather than substantive.
What are the possible implications of this India-Vietnam Defence Cooperation for the region? These pacts span bilateral, regional and strategic dimensions.
At the bilateral level, defence ties move from dialogue and training into concrete strategic-industrial partnership, which can elevate other sectors of engagement (technology, maritime, training).
At the regional level, the maritime security issue can come into play. With shared concerns about freedom of navigation and maritime domain awareness, especially in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean corridors, this cooperation strengthens the broader rules-based maritime order.
As both sides have agreed on defence industry cooperation, joint production and technology exchange may reduce dependency on external suppliers and create new opportunities for both countries' defence-industrial bases.
This also means strategic signalling as this move sends a message of diversifying partnerships and strengthening Indo-Pacific security alignments, which both India and Vietnam view as important.
What is the way forward? To fully realise the promise of these agreements, several steps are crucial: One is to start action plans quickly.
This would entail establishing joint working groups promptly (as indicated for December 2025 for the defence industry plan) to convert LoI into actionable road-maps; conduct submarine-rescue drills, simulation exercises and shared protocols between the two navies to build readiness and trust; define specific high-tech domains (AI, cyber-security, ship-yard upgrades) where collaboration will be targeted, with clear metrics and time-lines; and institutionalising dialogue by ensuring that the 16th dialogue to be held in India in 2026 is supported with mid-term check-ins to maintain momentum.
There is also room for creating public-private synergy. This would mean bringing both nations' defence public units and private enterprises into co-creation so manufacturing, export and infrastructure partnerships take root.
There could be a need for building regional linkages by leveraging multilateral frameworks (ASEAN, Indo-Pacific forums) to widen the impact and integrate India-Vietnam cooperation into broader regional architectures.
The dialogue reaffirmed that defence remains a central pillar of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership established between India and Vietnam in 2016.
The two sides highlighted the importance of maintaining an open, inclusive, and rules-based maritime order, particularly amid evolving security challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.
Officials also discussed upcoming high-level visits, staff talks, training exchanges, and the potential expansion of joint exercises under the aegis of the Indian Armed Forces and the Vietnam People's Army.
Both sides agreed to continue building institutional linkages and promote steady progress through sustained dialogue mechanisms.
The dialogue reflected the shared vision of India and Vietnam for regional peace, maritime cooperation, and mutual capacity enhancement.
It demonstrated the continuity and strategic depth of bilateral ties that have matured into a robust framework for long-term partnership.
Few days prior to the 15th India-Vietnam defence dialogue, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had visited Malaysia on November 1 to attend the 12th ADMM-Plus meeting with the aim to expand and strengthen defence and security cooperation among ASEAN member states and India, thereby deepen India-ASEAN defence ties.
He addressed the forum on the theme 'Reflection on 15 years of ADMM Plus and Charting the Way Forward'.
On the sidelines, the second edition of ASEAN India Defence Ministers' Informal Meeting, under the chairmanship of Malaysia, was held on October 31, wherein Defence Ministers from all ASEAN member countries took part.
The meeting was aimed to 'further strengthen defence and security cooperation among ASEAN member States and India and advance the 'Act East Policy'.'
Singh also held bilateral meetings with counterparts from the participating ADMM Plus nations and with Malaysia's senior leadership.
ADMM is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN.
The ADMM Plus framework brings together ASEAN member States, including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam, along with eight Dialogue Partners -- India, the US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand – to strengthen security and defence cooperation.
Just to recapitulate, India became a dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992, and the inaugural ADMM Plus was convened in Hanoi, Vietnam, on October 12, 2010. Since 2017, the ADMM Plus has been held annually to enhance regional security cooperation.
Under this framework, India is the co-chair of the Experts' Working Group on Counter Terrorism with Malaysia for the 2024 to 2027 cycle.
The second edition of the ASEAN India Maritime Exercise is also scheduled for 2026.
In October 2025, Prime Minister Modi addressed the ASEAN-India Summit virtually, reaffirming collaboration in counter-terrorism, maritime security, and the early review of the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Prime Minister Modi and ASEAN leaders reviewed progress in India-ASEAN relations and discussed initiatives to strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
In support of Malaysia's chairmanship theme of 'Inclusivity and Sustainability', PM Modi announced India's continued support for the implementation of the ASEAN-India Plan of Action (2026 to 2030) and the adoption of the ASEAN-India Joint Leaders' Statement on Sustainable Tourism, marking the ASEAN India Year of Tourism.
In all such Indian initiatives, Vietnam remains as the fulcrum of India's strategic outlook towards ASEAN.
The 15th Defence Policy Dialogue with Vietnam may be understood in the larger rubric of India's Act East Policy.
Dr Rajaram Panda is former Senior Fellow at the Pradhanmantri Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi.
Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff