India-Vietnam Relations | UPSC Mains: International Relations PDF Download

India-Vietnam relations: contextualising the Indo-Pacific region

• As Asian countries invested in their cultures, India and Vietnam share a deep historic bond. Emerging from a sense of history, the two nations also have cultural and economic linkages that date back over 2000 years. Notably, in the second half of the 2nd century BC two Indian Buddhist Zen monks; Mahajavaka and Kalyanacuriare credited with founding Buddhism in Vietnam. Through the course of the 13th and 14th century AD, many other tantric monks from India including Yogi brahman visited Vietnam and were well received by the Tran dynasty. While impacting the living culture, Vietnamese art and architecture are also known to have been immensely influenced by the then prosperous Indian kingdoms.
• Time and again, India has given continuous support to Vietnam starting from the days of the Champa Kingdom through the colonial, post colonial, Cold War and Post Cold War phases including the much recent Act East policy. India has played a key role in the peace process of Vietnam in the course of the 20th century. It supported Vietnam's independence from France, opposed the U.S. involvement in the war and supported unification of the Vietnam. In fact, India was one of the few countries to have consulate level ties with both, North and South Vietnam. Ho Chin Minh, a former President of Vietnam, had even gone on to describe the relations between India and Vietnam as flourishing under a“ cloudless sky”.
• In the mid nineties, ties between both countries further strengthened when Vietnam joined ASEAN in 1995. Overtime, the two countries have developed strong relations with strategic engagements through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led multilateral mechanisms such as the East Asia Summit, ASEAN regional forum, ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus as well as the India led Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MCG).

India’s Act East Policy with Vietnam as a strategic partner

• India’s Act East policy (AEP) was formulated (2014) to focus on creating an “extended neighbourhood in the Asia Pacific Region”. The policy which dealt with economic and trade issues initially also assumed political, strategic and cultural dimensions. Under the AEP, India has sought to deepen ties with not just with Vietnam but even Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, Singapore, ASEAN and other countries in the Asia Pacific.
• Undoubtedly then, Vietnam has been a strategic pillar of India’s Act East policy. Both nations even signed the strategic partnership agreement on July 6, 2007, which was the first strategic agreement India had signed with another country in the South East Asian Region. In the beginning of the millennium (2000), both sides also signed a defence protocol through which Vietnam could procure military helicopters and equipments for the repair of Vietnamese aircrafts. A provision was also made for facor facilitating the training of Vietnam’s military personnel by India.
• Following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit (2016) to Vietnam, both sides agreed for a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” plan of Action wherein India reiterated its commitment to provide necessary assistance in developing Vietnam’s defence capabilities as well as providing a new line of credit facility for the country. Moreover, on the logistics front, the implementation of the US$100 million Line of Credit for building high-speed patrol vessels to be used by the Vietnamese Border Guards is a classic example of India’s strategic support. The Vietnamese side have also appreciated India’s offer of US$500 million Line of Credit to the local defence industry and agreed to accelerate procedures for its timely approval.
• In December 2020, in the first ever Virtual Summit held between the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and his then Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, both countries signed the historic “Indo-Vietnam Joint Vision for Peace, Prosperity and People agreement” encompassing the future development of their strategic partnership, building upon the foundations of deep-rooted historical and cultural bonds, shared values, interests, mutual strategic trust & understanding between the two countries.
• In more recent times, the Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, co-chaired (Jan,12 2021) the 13th India-Vietnam Defence Security Dialogue along with his Vietnamese co-chair Sr Lt Gen Nguyen Chi Vinh, the Deputy Defence Minister, Vietnam. During their virtual interaction, the Defence Secretary and the Deputy Defence Minister expressed their satisfaction at the ongoing defence cooperation between the two countries in spite of the limitations imposed by COVID 19.
• This partnership with Vietnam assumes greater significance against the backdrop of a growing threat of Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region. It seems keeping with the spirit of multilateralism, Vietnam is trying to incorporate a multidimensional Indo-Pacific agenda in its foreign policy.

Vietnam’s dilemma vis-à-vis China:

• One of the basic components of the Indo-Pacific region includes the emphasis on maritime security, including securing sea cables of communication, freedom of navigation, maintaining an open and transparent rules-based order, abiding by international law, open dialogue and discussions, and fostering regional development by engaging in infrastructure and connectivity projects. As is known, Vietnam is a signatory (October 17, 2012) to the ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. Nevertheless the country has been facing its share of challenges arising out of claims, China has made on various islands and a major part of the South China Sea (SCS) itself.
• Today, the Vietnam-China relations are definitely more complicated than what is overtly visible. Vietnam, along with other Asian nation, Philippines have territorial disputes with China over the Spratly Islands. This, apart from the bilateral dispute the country has over the Paracel Islands with the world’s most populous nation. Interestingly, the dilemma of managing ties with China, which is both an important neighbour/partner as well as a formidable geo-strategic challenge, has led Vietnam to maintain the status quo on the SCS issue. Vietnam is currently the largest trading partner of China having particularly benefited from the ongoing US-China trade war. Nevertheless, China is also its biggest national security threat which cannot be ignored.
• Against this backdrop of territorial and maritime disputes with China, both India and Vietnam are mindful of their respective concerns and limitations. Being responsible stakeholders that believe in a rule-based order in the Indo-Pacific region, both nations have striven to avoid a direct confrontation with China. Both countries have also been relentless in pitching for a peaceful ASEAN-led solution to the South China Sea dispute while supporting the US idea of Freedom of Navigation Operations. The US intervention in the SCS brings with it a whole new range of complications accelerating the pace to achieve superpower status.
• Looking at the global geopolitical dynamics, it may be safe to state that the day may not be too far when Indo-Pacific countries would not only come closer to raise their voices against the Chinese domination tactics but also refrain from serving the geo-strategic ambitions of the United States & rather insist on working together as sovereign nations to find a coherent solution for the security of the regions they have been historically inhabiting.