Jaishankar to visit Vietnam, Singapore; will aim to boost bilateral co-operation

Starting on October 15, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will visit Vietnam and Singapore for a six-day tour to strengthen bilateral cooperation across various sectors.

Jaishankar will go to Vietnam for the first part of his trip from October 15 to October 18 in order to evaluate the progress made in a number of sectors and to discuss how to further strengthen collaboration, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on October 14.

Jaishankar’s trip to the strategically important Southeast Asian nations comes less than three months after India gave the Vietnamese armed forces the missile corvette INS Kirpan as a sign of the growing strategic partnership between the two countries and amid shared worries about China’s increasingly belligerent behaviour in the South China Sea.

It was for the first time that India handed over a fully-operational corvette to any friendly foreign country.

“India and Vietnam share a robust comprehensive strategic partnership. Vietnam is a key member of our Act East Policy. The external affairs minister’s visit will provide an opportunity to review progress in several areas and discuss ways to further enhance bilateral cooperation,” the MEA said.

(With agency inputs)