New Delhi: The Defence Ministers of India and Vietnam on Thursday committed to enhance cooperation in the defence and technology domain and effectively deepen bilateral cooperative engagements across the spectrum.

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a virtual interaction with his Vietnam counterpart, Lt Gen Phan Van Giang, on Thursday.

During the interaction, both the ministers reviewed the progress on the current initiatives and expressed commitment to further enhance engagements between the defence forces of the two countries under the framework of India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2016) and under the guidance of the Joint Vision for Peace, Prosperity and People signed during the virtual summit between the Prime Ministers of the two nations in December 2020.

Both the ministers acknowledged the significance of the Joint Vision Statement of 2015-20 in strengthening defence cooperation engagements between the two countries and looked forward to concluding the joint vision statement at the earliest opportunity.

The ministers agreed to initiate measures to enhance cooperation in the defence industry and technology domain and looked forward to greater synergy in effectively deepening bilateral cooperative engagements across the spectrum.

Both ministers expressed satisfaction at the ongoing activities between the two countries despite the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Singh termed the relationship between India and Vietnam as strong and effective.

"India attaches great importance to its bilateral defence cooperation with Vietnam. Both India and Vietnam share a long-standing tradition of helping each other in difficult times. We have achieved substantial progress in defence industry cooperation in recent years," Singh said.

He added that India and Vietnam continue to make forward movement in overcoming the challenges posed by the pandemic.

Singh also thanked his counterpart for inviting him on an official visit to Vietnam, and said he looked forward to it.