I. INTRODUCTION:

India is one of an oldest civilizations in the world with a kaleidoscopic variety and rich cultural heritage. It has achieved an all round socio-economic progress since its independence from the British rule on 15-08-1947. India has become self-sufficient in agricultural production and is now one of the top industrialized countries in the world. India is one of the few nations to have gone into outer space to conquer nature for the benefit of the people. It covers an area of 32, 87, 263sq. km (1, 269, 346 sq mi), which extending from the snow covered Himalayan heights to the tropical rain forests of the south. It is the 7^th largest country in the world. India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct geographical entity.

Moreover, India is bounded by the great Himalayas in the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into an Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on an east and an Arabian Sea on the west(https://www.india.gov.in/india-glance/profile,accessed on 15-12-2020).

In the case of Vietnam country is concerned, it became a Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 25^th April, 1976. In 1977, Vietnam became a member of United Nations (http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/vietnam/history., accessed on 19-12-2020). The Vietnam is located on an Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It has a long land border of 4,550km, bordering China to the North, Laos and Cambodia to the West and an Eastern Sea (South China Sea) of Pacific Ocean to an east. On the map, Vietnam is an S-shaped strip of land, stretching from 23°23’ to 8°27’ North latitude. The country’s total length is 1,650km from the northernmost point to the southernmost point. Its width, from the Eastern coast to the Western border is about 500km at the widest part and about 50km at the narrowest part (http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/vietnam/geography., accessed on 19-12-2020). The Vietnam’s economy has attained high growth rate during the late 20th century and early years of the 21st century. People’s lives have been significantly improved. The legal system has become increasingly improved and social management based on the rule of law has been put into place. Security and national defense have been firmly maintained and international relations have increasingly been extended and deepened (http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/vietnam/history., accessed on 19-12-2020).

It is important to note that in geostrategic terms, both India and Vietnam are maritime states or countries and are highly dependent on the sea based commerce for their economic vitality. Their geographic location bestows on them the responsibility to protect international shipping routes in Indian Ocean and the South China Sea (Vijay Sakhuja (edited), (2011), p.x). Along from an above introduction, this article is divided into the 8 parts for analysis of this theme.

II. A Brief History of India-Vietnam Bilateral Relations:

India and Vietnam countries with historical roots in the common struggle for liberation from colonial rule and the national struggle for independence share traditionally close and cordial bilateral relations. Mahatma Gandhi and Ho Chi Minh regarded as the Father of Nation in India and Vietnam respectively. Moreover, both led people in their heroic struggle against colonialism in these two countries. India was the Chairman of the International Commission for Supervision and Control (ICSC), which was formed pursuant to the Geneva Accord of 1954 to facilitate the peace process in Vietnam. India was initially maintained Consulate-level relations with the then North and South Vietnams and later established full diplomatic relations with an unified Vietnam on 7^th January 1972 (https://www.indembassyhanoi.gov.in/page/india-vietnam-relations/, accessed on 30-10-2020).

The long history of cultural contacts dating back to ancient times and the close ties of friendship between India and Vietnam led by Prime Minister Nehru and President Ho Chi Minh have acted as catalyst for sustained friendly and cordial relations between the two sides (Vijay Sakhuja (edited), (2011), p.ix). The relations between the two countries were elevated to the level of ‘Strategic Partnership’ during the visit of Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to India in July 2007(https://www.indembassyhanoi.gov.in/page/india-vietnam-relations/, accessed on 30-10-2020). Moreover, both India and Vietnam signed the New Strategic Partnership that envisaged bilateral political and economic engagements, security and defense cooperation, scientific and technological capacity building and enhanced cultural contacts. Further, the two sides also committed themselves to diversifying as well as deepening relationship and work closely in regional and multilateral forums to address the rapidly changing international environment (Vijay Sakhuja (edited), (2011), p.ix). In 2016, during India’s Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Vietnam, the bilateral relations were further elevated to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” (https://www.indembassyhanoi.gov.in/page/india-vietnam-relations/, accessed on 30-10-2020).

III. Contemporary India-Vietnam bilateral relations:

There are several bilateral mechanisms at different levels between India and Vietnam. The Joint Commission meeting at the Foreign Ministers level, the Foreign Office consultations and strategic dialogue at Secretary-level provided the broad framework for bilateral consultations encompassing all areas of mutual interest between these two countries. The 6th Joint Commission meeting was held at Hanoi in August 2018. The 10th Foreign Office consultations and the 7th Strategic Dialogue were held in New Delhi in April 2018. In view of the COVID-19 related travel restrictions, the latest (17th) round of Joint Commission meeting was held through online between External Affairs Minister of India and the Foreign Minister/deputy PM of Vietnam on 25^th August 2020. India-Vietnam Joint Sub-Commission on Trade at Commerce Secretary level held its 4th meeting in Hanoi in January 2019. The 12th annual security dialogue at Defence Secretary-level was held at Ho Chi Minh City in October 2019. The 1^st India-Vietnam Maritime Security Dialogue was held at Additional Secretary level at Hanoi in March 2019. Both the countries also had regular Parliamentary exchanges(https://www.indembassyhanoi.gov.in/page/india-vietnam-relations/, accessed on 30-10-2020). However, the recently occured evolution of India and Vietnam countries bilateral relations are analyzed below.

A) The 2016-2017 year:

The Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi had paid an official visit to Vietnam from 2^nd to 3^rd September, 2016. The visit has provided a major boost to India’s bilateral relations. Vietnam and India agreed to elevate the current Strategic Partnership to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The twelve Memorandum Of Understandings (MoUs)/Documents were signed during the visit (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2016-17), p.X). Some important agreements signed were: (i) Framework agreement on cooperation in the exploration and uses of outer space for peaceful purposes; (ii) Program of cooperation in UN peacekeeping matters; (iii) MOU on health cooperation; (iv) MOU on cooperation in Information Technology; and (viii) MOU on cooperation in Cyber Security (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2016-17), p.42).

The Prime Minister of India had announced a new LoC of US$ 500 million for facilitating deeper defence cooperation. He also announced a grant of US$ 5 million for the construction of an Army Software Park at the Telecommunications University in Nha Trang. The Special annual scholarships for Vietnamese students for advanced Buddhist studies at Masters/Doctoral level courses and study of Sanskrit in India for the members of the Buddhist Sangha in Vietnam were also offered. The National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan had visited India on 8^th to 11^th December, 2016. During her visit four MoU/Agreements were signed including Framework Agreement of Civil Nuclear Cooperation. The Defence Minister of India, Mr. Manohar Parrikar led a defence industry delegation to Vietnam on 5^th to 8^th June, 2016. Similarly from Vietnam, General Ngo Xuan Lick, the Defence Minister of Vietnam has visited India from 3^rd to 6^th December, 2016. The Vice Foreign Minister Mr. Vu Hong Nam had visited India for the 8th round of Foreign Office Consultations and the 5th Strategic Dialogue on 2^nd August 2016 in Delhi. Mr. Hoang Van Thang, the Vice Minister of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had visited India between 30^th October to 7^th November 2016 to attend an Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction 2016 (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2016-17), p.42).

The Defence and Security Cooperation has emerged as a significant pillar of India’s strategic partnership with Vietnam. For the first time, a Vietnamese ship participated in an International Fleet Review at Vishakhapatnam city of India in February 2016. The two Indian Naval ships INS Satpura and INS Kirch with 481 crew headed by Rear Admiral SV Bhokare had made a port call to Cam Ranh city in Vietnam from 30^th May to 3^rd June 2016 (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2016-17), P.42). An Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS SAMRAT headed by DIG DS Saini and 126 crew made a port call to Danang port from 23^rd to 27^th October 2016. The Government of India (GoI) had offered US$ 100 million LOC for defence procurement is being used for procuring high speed patrol vessels from Larsen and Toubro of India. A MoU on cooperation in security matters was signed on 3^rd November 2016 during the visit of Mr. Bui Van Thanh, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Public Security to India (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2016-17), p.43).

Vietnam has been a large recipient of training programmes under Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme. Presently, 150 ITEC slots offered to Vietnam every year along with 16 scholarships under the General Cultural Scholarship Scheme, 14 scholarships under an Educational Exchange Programme and 10 scholarships under the Mekong Ganga Cooperation Scholarship Scheme. Embassy of India in Hanoi, in collaboration with an University of Social Sciences and Humanities of Vietnam organized a Photo Exhibition to mark the 125^th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in Hanoi on 14^th to 15^th April, 2016. The 2^nd International day of Yoga was successfully celebrated in Hanoi and six other cities on 26^th June 2016. The Centre for Indian Studies, Ho Chi Minh Academy of Politics have organized an International Conference on “Vietnam-India: New Context, New Vision” in Hanoi on 25^th August, 2016(Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2016-17), p.43).

Indian Culture Centre in Hanoi had started functioning with one yoga teacher and one classical dance/music teacher in September 2016. A 16 member delegation consisted of Buddhist monks and journalists from Vietnam have participated in an International Buddhist Conclave-2016 in Sarnath on 4^th to 6^th October, 2016. An ICCR sponsored rock band UDX toured to Vietnam from 20^th to 22^nd October, 2016 and performed in Hanoi and a neighboring province. India was one of the partner countries in the November 2016 Hanoi International Film Festival (1^st to 5^th November). A roundtable on Indian Cinema was organized during the film festival. Several Indian films were screened during the Festival (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2016-17), p.43).

B) The 2017-2018 year:

India and Vietnam were celebrating 2017 as the year of friendship for commemorating the 45^th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10^th anniversary of establishment of strategic partnership. The Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. Dr. V. K. Singh (Retd.) had visited to Vietnam in April 2017 and inaugurated an Indian Cultural Centre in Hanoi along with the Vietnamese Vice Minister of Culture and Sports and Tourism H.E. Mr. Nguyen Vinh Ai. The celebrations marking the year of Friendship were also formally inaugurated through a dance performance comprising numerous Indian classical dance forms at the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Operas as well as also in the city of Danang in Central Vietnam (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2017-18), p.36).

Vietnam and India also institutionalized the structures of cooperation to implement the comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreed upon between the two countries during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to Vietnam in September 2016. A plan of Action in this regard had been signed during the visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister mr. Pham Binh Minh and external affairs minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj at New Delhi in July 2017. The Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and Vietnamese PM Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc were also held meetings on the side lines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg city (Germany) in July 2017 and at an ASEAN –India and East Asia Summit meetings in Manila (Capital city of Philippines) in November 2017(Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report(2017-18),p.36).

The minister of State for Commerce Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman had visited Vietnam in May 2017 for the 3^rd Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP) Ministerial meeting at Hanoi. The 9^th Foreign office consultations and the 6^th Strategic Dialogue between the Foreign offices of the two countries were held at Hanoi in October 2017 led by Secretary(East)Smt Preeti Saran and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr.Nguyen Quoc Dung(Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report(2017-18), p.36) etc.

C) The 2018-2019 year:

India-Vietnam relations have witnessed a remarkable level of engagement in 2018 beginning with an official visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc for an ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit and as a Guest of Honour at the Republic Day in India. The momentum was carried forward with the State Visit of former President of Vietnam (Late) Mr. Tran Dai Quang to India from 2^nd to 4^th March 2018. Moreover, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Mr. Tran Dai Quang, the President of India Mr .Ramnath Kovind and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi were presented at the Ceremonial Reception for the Mr. Tran Dai Quang . This was organized at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on 03^rd March, 2018. The President Mr. Ramnath Kovind had undertook a three day State Visit to Vietnam. This was first to Southeast Asia from 18^th to 20^th November 2018, which was accompanied by Minister of State (MoS) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Mr. Anant Kumar Hegde and Members of Parliament Dr. Heena Gavit and Shri Kamakhya Prasad Tasa. During this visit, four agreements were signed including MoU between the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam and Ministry of Communications of India; MoU between the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Jawaharlal Nehru University and a Cooperation Agreement between the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2018-19),p.81).

The former Indian Defence Minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman had undertook an official visit to Vietnam from 12^th to 15^th June 2018. During the visit, she had held talks with the Minister of National Defence of Vietnam, called on the President of Vietnam and the fourth India-Vietnam Defence Industry Business Meet was held at Hanoi. She had laid the foundation stone for the Army Software Park in Nha Trang city in Vietnam for which Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had announced a US$ 5 million grant during his visit in 2016 (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2018-19), p.81).

The former India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) Mrs. Sushma Swaraj had visited the Hanoi from 26^th to 28^th August 2018 to co-chair the 16th Joint Commission Meeting and to inaugurate the 3rd Indian Ocean Conference. During her visit, seven MoUs were signed with the People’s Committee of Ninh Thuan province for implementation of grants-in-aid social infrastructure projects for the benefit of the Cham community in the province to the tune of US$ 1.5 million. The former EAM Mrs. Sushma Swaraj had unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Chancery premises during the visit (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2018-19), p.82).

An ongoing development partnership projects between India and Vietnam continued and new projects had been initiated. Vietnam had been a large recipient of training programmes under the ITEC programme. Presently, 130 ITEC slots are being offered to Vietnam every year along with twenty scholarships under the General Cultural Scholarship Scheme (GCSS); four scholarships announced during PM Mr.Narendra Modi’s visit to Vietnam in September 2016 for Buddhist and Sanskrit studies for Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, fourteen scholarships under the Educational Exchange Programme (EEP) and ten scholarships under the MGC Scholarship Scheme. Five projects under the Quick Impact Projects scheme are currently being processed for implementation in various provinces of Vietnam (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2018-19), P.83).

The defence cooperation has been a significant pillar of India’s Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam. Both countries continue to develop the relationship on the basis of the ‘Joint Vision Statement’ signed in May 2015 between the two Defence Ministers on Defence Relations for the period 2015-2020. An Education and training continue to be a significant component in this relationship. India currently offers sixty to seventy ITEC slots every year to Vietnamese defence personnel. Indian training teams from Army, Navy and Air Force are located in Vietnam providing various language, technical and operational training to personnel of the Vietnamese armed forces (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2018-19), p.83).

The high level exchanges between the two armed forces continued during the year. These included visits by the Commander-in-Chief of Vietnam People’s Air Force to India in October 2018, Chief of an Indian Army Staff to Vietnam in November 2018 and Commander-in-Chief of Vietnam People’s Navy visit to India in December 2018. An Annual Young Officers exchange between the two Armies as well as Air Forces and the Youth Exchange between National Cadet Corps (NCC) of India and Youth Federation of Vietnam is ongoing. The Second Army-to-Army Staff Talks were conducted in Vietnam in October 2018. The 3^rd Navy-to-Navy Staff Talks are scheduled to be held in Vietnam in December 2018 and 2nd Air Force-to-Air Force Staff Talks scheduled in the first quarter of 2019 in Vietnam (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2018-19), P.83).

D) The 2019-2020 year:

Following its ‘Act East Policy’, India has enhanced its engagement with Vietnam to boost close and friendly relation with Vietnam. The bilateral relationship strengthened through exchange of high level visits, extensive defence and security cooperation, implementation of development partnership programme, and extending support to Vietnam in its capacity building initiatives under GOI’s scholarships. The Vice President of India Mr. Venkaiah Naidu had visited to Vietnam from 9^th to 12^th May 2019 as Guest of Honour at the 16^th United Nations Day of Vesak(UNDV) celebration held at Tam Chuc Pagoda in Ha Nam Province of Vietnam by Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and International Council of UNDV. In this he delivered his keynote address (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2019-20), p.85).

The Vice President Mr. Venkaiah Naidu again met his Vietnamese counterpart Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh on 25^th October on the sidelines of the 18^th NAM summit in Baku city (capital of Azerbaijan). The PM Mr. Narendra Modi met Prime Minister Phuc twice; first in Osaka city (Japan) on the sidelines of the G20 Summit on 28^th June 2019 and during 16^th India ASEAN Summit held in Bangkok city (capital of Thailand) on 4^th November 2019. An External Affairs Minister of India met Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Minh on sidelines of AMM meeting on 01^st August 2019 and reviewed the bilateral relations. The Member of Party Central Committee and Secretary of Phu Yen province’s Party Committee and Chairman of the People’s Council Mr. Huynh Tan Viet had visited to India from 15^th to 19^th October 2019 under Ministry’s Distinguished Visitors Programme. He had meetings with India’s MOS for Commerce and Industry and senior officials of the Ministry (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2019-20), P.85).

The cooperation in Defence and maritime security is the cornerstone of India’s relations with Vietnam. The Defence Secretary of India, Dr. Ajay Kumar held the 12^th round of India-Vietnam Annual Security Dialogue with the Deputy Defence Minister of Vietnam, Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh in Ho Chi Minh City on 3^rd October, 2019. The high level exchanges between the two-armed forces continued during the year. These included visits to India by Chief of General Staff of Vietnam People’s Army, Senior Lt. Gen Phan Van Giang and Dy. Chief of General Staff of Vietnam People’s Army Ngo Minh Tien in November and December 2019 respectively. An Army to Army Staff Talks, Navy to Navy Staff Talks and Air Force Staff Talks were held in Vietnam in 2019. Indian ships made friendly port calls to Vietnam. Three Indian Naval Ships Sahyadri, Kolkata, Shakti undertook goodwill visits to Vietnam in 2019. On the connectivity front, an important milestone was achieved with the launch of direct flight operations by private airlines of Indigo and Vietjet connecting New Delhi and Kolkata with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2019-20), p.85).

IV. Bilateral Regional Trade between India and Vietnam:

From a meagre US$200 million in the year 2000, the bilateral trade between India and Vietnam has seen steady growth over the years. According to Indian statistics in 2019-20, the bilateral trade between India and Vietnam reached to US$12.34 billion. This marked a decrease of 9.9 percent year-on-year, which was largely on account of COVID-19 related trade disruptions. For India, Vietnam is the 18th largest trading partner globally and within an ASEAN, the 4th largest trading partner after Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. For Vietnam, India is the 7th largest trading partner, 7^th largest source of import and 9^th largest export market globally. In 2019-20, the five key items imported into India from Vietnam included mobile phones and components, machinery as well as computers and electronic hardware, natural rubber, chemicals and coffee. The key items exported from India to Vietnam were meat and fishery products, corn, steel, pharmaceuticals, cotton and machinery (https://www.indembassyhanoi.gov.in/page/india-vietnam-relations/, accessed on 30-10-2020). However, the recent trade happened between these two countries are analyzed below.

A) The 2016-2017 year:

The bilateral trade between India and Vietnam had seen continuous growth over the past many years. India is now among the top ten trading partners of Vietnam with bilateral trade of US$ 7830.62million in 2015-16. An Indian Chemicals and Allied Products Export Promotion Council (CAPEXCIL) led an 11 member business delegation participated in a trade fair in April from 26^th to 28^th, 2016. The Council for Leather Exports (CLE) from India led a business delegation to Vietnam in July from 13^th to 16^th, 2016. A high-powered chief executive officer (CEO) delegation led by President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) visited to Vietnam during 1^st to 3^rd November, 2016. An Embassy of India in Hanoi organized a catalogue show for Indian pharmaceutical companies on 11^th to 14^th May 2016 (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2016-17), P.43).

A 3 member delegation from India’s Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) had visited to Vietnam from 9^th to 10^th November, 2016 in order to explore market for LED lighting and energy conservation. Indian companies were also participated in Food Ingredients Vietnam Exhibition from 18^th to 20^th May 2016 at Ho Chi Minh City, ‘Denim and Jean Show’ from 16^th to 17^th June 2016 in Ho Chi Minh City, International Shoes and Leather Exhibition Vietnam at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City from 13^th to 15^th July 2016, METALEX 2016 exhibition at HCM City in October 2016 and International Vietnam Garment and Textile Fair in November 2016. The delegations from Soybean Processors Association of India as well as Electronics and Software Export Promotion Council of India also visited Vietnam in September 2016 and October 2016 respectively (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2016-17), P.43).

B) The 2017-2018 Year:

The bilateral trade between India and Vietnam from April 2016 to March 2017 was US$10.135 billion of which US$6.815 were Indian Exports to Vietnam and US$3.320 were Indian imports from Vietnam. A number of Indian business oriented delegations have visited Vietnam to explore opportunities for trade as well as investment and to attract investments into India under the Make in India initiative. A delegation from one of Indian state of Telangana has visited Vietnam in September 2017 to attract investments into the state in the textiles sector. A 12 member delegation from Krishnapatnam port visited Vietnam in August- September 2017 for enhancing trade between Krishnapatnam Port and Vietnam and for cooperation with local shipping lines and logistic companies. A 36 member delegation led by Council for Leather exports held discussions with Vietnamese leather industry and participated in the 19^th Leather and Shoes Exhibition in Ho Chi Minh city in July 2017. A nine member delegation from International Livestock Research Institute, India had visited to Vietnam in July 2017 (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2017-18), P.36).

The Vietnamese companies have participated in an India Steel Expo 2017 at Mumbai in April 2017, in the IPHEX-2017 in the pharmaceutical sector held at Hyderabad in April 2017 and in the Kids India 2017 organised by the Sports Goods Exports Promotion Council in September 2017. A high level delegation led by Mr. Nguyen Van Chi of Vinh Phuc province had visited to India in October 2017 seeking enhanced trade as well as investments and held meetings with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and other industry associations. A Vietnamese delegation led by Mr.Vo Cong Tri, Deputy party secretary of Danang had visited to India in July seeking greater economic engagement and investments. A delegation of 28 members led by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, Vietnam Textiles and Apparel Association as well as Hanoi Promotion Agency have participated in Textiles India 2017 at Gujarat in June-July 2017.This was organised by India’s Central Ministry of Textiles (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2017-18), p.36).

C) The 2018-2019 year:

The bilateral economic engagement has witnessed a remarkable spurt with a trade of US$ 12.83 billion for 2017- 18. During the first nine months of 2018, the bilateral trade reached to US$ 10.76 billion. This was registering an increase of 25.21% vis-à-vis the corresponding period of 2017. To maintain the high growth momentum, exchange of business delegations between the two countries has facilitated efforts to explore opportunities for trade and investment. A road-show to promote the second Source India 2018 was organised in Hanoi by the Synthetic Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) on 16^th July 2018(Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2018-19), p.82).

A two member Telecommunications Consultants India delegation has visited to Vietnam from 20^th to 23^rd August 2018 to work with concerned authorities in Vietnam related to an implementation of Smart Digital Village project in Vietnam. On 27^th and 28^th September 2018, the second India-ASEAN ICT Expo 2018 under the theme “Digital Connectivity in the Industrial Revolution 4.0” was held in Hanoi, Vietnam. A delegation from Navayuga Group had visited to Vietnam from 23^rd to 27^th October 2018 to explore the possibility of cooperation in the high-tech agricultural sector. During the President’s visit to Vietnam on 19^th November 2018, Vietnam-India Business Forum was organised that saw the participation of 400 Vietnamese and Indian businessmen including over sixty from India led by CII in coordination with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) and IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The fourth India-Vietnam Joint Sub-Commission on Trade was held in Hanoi, Vietnam on 22^nd to 23^rd January 2019(Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2018-19), p.82).

A six-member delegation led by Mr. Hoang Quoc Vuong, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade has visited India to participate in the 16th International Energy Forum Minister Meeting from 9^th to 14^th April 2018. A thirteen-member delegation led by Mr. Cao Quoc Hung, Vice Minister of Industry and Trade had participated in fifth India’s Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) Business Conclave. This was organised by the CII in association with the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India in Phnom Penh capital city of Cambodia on 21^st and 22^nd May 2018 (Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report (2018-19), p.82).

D) Profile graph of India’s bilateral trade with Vietnam over the last few years is shown in the below graph (Red line is Export, Blue line is Import and Violet line is total Trade)

Source: https://www.indembassyhanoi.gov.in/page/economic-and-commercial/, accessed on 31-10-2020

Above graph clearly reveals that India’s bilateral trade with Vietnam from 2010-2011 annual year to 2019-2020 annual year. This revealed that there was a significant trade happened between India and Vietnam countries in these annual years.

V. India's Top 25 Export and Import Destinations and Sources:

India's top 25 Export and Import Destinations and Sources analysis reveals that India country’s top 25 export destinations countries are 1) USA, 2) UAE, 3) China, 4) Hong Kong, 5) Singapore, 6)United Kingdom, 7) Netherlands, 8) Germany, 9) Bangladesh, 10) Nepal, 11) Malaysia, 12) Saudi Arabia, 13) Belgium, 14) France, 15) Vietnam, 16) Italy, 17) Turkey, 18) South Korea, 19) Japan, 20) Thailand, 21) Indonesia, 22) South Africa, 23) Brazil, 24) Spain and 25) Sri Lanka (https://www.indiantradeportal.in/vs.jsp?id=0,25,45,858,859, accessed on 31-10-2020). So, in this Vietnam country(15) is included in India’s top 25 export destinations countries in the world. India’s top 25 import sources countries are 1) China, 2) USA, 3) UAE,4) Saudi Arabia, 5) Iraq, 6) Hong Kong,7) Switzerland, 8) South Korea, 9) Indonesia, 10) Singapore, 11) Germany, 12) Japan, 13) Nigeria, 14) Malaysia, 15) Australia, 16) Qatar, 17) Kuwait, 18) Belgium, 19) Vietnam, 20) Russia, 21) South Africa, 22) Thailand, 23) United Kingdom, 24) Venezuela, and 25) France (https://www.indiantradeportal.in/vs.jsp?lang=0andid=0,263,273, accessed on 31-10-2020). So, in this Vietnam country(19) is included in India’s top 25 import sources countries.

However, the top 25 commodities imported by Vietnam from India are 1) Electrical, electronic equipment, 2) Machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers, etc, 3) Plastics and articles there of 4) Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products, etc, 5) Iron and steel, 6) Optical, photo, technical, medical, etc apparatus, 7) Knitted or crocheted fabric, 8) Vehicles other than railway, tramway, 9) cotton, 10) Fish, crustaceans, molluscs etc, 11) Edible fruit, nuts, peel of citrus fruit, melons, 12) Organic chemicals, 13) manmade filaments, 14) Meat and edible meat offal,15)Residues and waste from the food industries etc, 16) Articles of apparel, accessories, not knit or crochet, 17) Articles of iron or steel, 18) Aluminium and articles thereof, 19) Cereals, 20) Miscellaneous chemical products, 21) Manmade staple fibres, 22) Paper and paperboard, articles of pulp, paper and board, 23) Edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers, 24)Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof, and 25) Pharmaceutical products (https://www.indiantradeportal.in/vs.jsp?lang=1andid=0,25,45,916,13843,14041,accessed on 31-10-2020)

VI. India’s top 100 exports commodities to the Vietnam:

As per the Department of Commerce under Government of India’s Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s export- import data bank, India’s exports of the top 100 commodities to the Vietnam Socialist Republic are given in the below table. The values are in US $ million and the data covered for analysis was till the date of 12-11-2020.

* ITC HS Code of the Commodity is either dropped or re-allocated from April 2019

S. No.	HS Code	Commodity	2019-2020	2020-2021(Apr-Sep(P))	% Growth
1.	01	Live Animals	0.01
2.	02	Meat and edible meat offal	1,071.70	200.80
3.	03	Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertabrates.	280.74	131.64
4.	04	Dairy produce; birds' eggs; natural honey; edible prod. of animal origin, not elsewhere spec. or included.	5.08	2.88
5.	05	Products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included.	35.02	2.77
6.	06	Live trees and other plants; bulbs; roots and the like; cut flowers and ornamental foliage.	0.10	0.01
7.	07	Edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers.	11.82	5.97
8.	08	Edible fruit and nuts; peel or citrus fruit or melons.	35.65	4.66
9.	09	Coffee, tea, mate and spices.	27.17	13.37
10.	10	Cereals.	2.11	3.37
11.	11	Products of the milling industry; malt; starches; inulin; wheat gluten.	1.35	3.38
12.	12	Oil seeds and olea. fruits; misc. grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal plants; straw and fodder.	198.35	59.87
13.	13	Lac; gums, resins and other vegetable saps and extracts.	2.13	0.97
14.	14	Vegetable plaiting materials; vegetable products not elsewhere specified or included.	0.13	0.06
15.	15	Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; pre. edible fats; animal or vegetable waxex.	5.19	2.37
16.	16	Preparations of meat, of fish or of crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates	0.06	0.03
17.	17	Sugars and sugar confectionery.	7.37	1.64
18.	18	Cocoa and cocoa preparations.	0.94	0.63
19.	19	Preparations of cereals, flour, starch or milk; pastrycooks products.	1.14	0.74
20.	20	Preparations of vegetables, fruit, nuts or other parts of plants.	0.57	0.22
21.	21	Miscellaneous edible preparations.	10.00	2.78
22.	22	Beverages, spirits and vinegar.	4.21	0.01
23.	23	Residues and waste from the food industries; prepared animal foder.	119.96	49.72
24.	24	Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes.	13.46	2.57
25.	25	Salt; sulphur; earths and stone; plastering materials, lime and cement.	44.83	18.55
26.	26	Ores, slag and ash.	4.45	9.13
27.	27	Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes.	8.09	3.37
28.	28	Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, or radi. elem. or of isotopes.	53.09	21.99
29.	29	Organic chemicals	129.33	68.81
30.	30	Pharmaceutical products	126.28	70.35
31.	31	Fertilisers.	2.43	0.32
32.	32	Tanning or dyeing extracts; tannins and their deri. dyes, pigments and other colouring matter; paints and ver; putty and other mastics; inks.	68.70	29.57
33.	33	Essential oils and resinoids; perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations.	9.84	4.75
34.	34	Soap, organic surface-active agents, washing preparations, lubricating preparations, artificial waxes, prepared waxes, polishing or scouring prep.	8.95	3.90
35.	35	Albuminoidal substances; modified starches; glues; enzymes.	5.31	3.92
36.	36	Explosives; pyrotechnic products; matches; pyrophoric alloys; certain combustible preparations.	1.82	0.58
37.	37	Photographic or cinematographic goods.	0.95	0.28
38.	38	Miscellaneous chemical products.	129.33	60.50
39.	39	Plastic and articles thereof.	138.80	94.46
40.	40	Rubber and articles thereof.	28.53	12.03
41.	41	Raw hides and skins (other than furskins) and leather	80.86	20.78
42.	42	Articles of leather,saddlery and harness;travel goods, handbags and similar cont.articles of animal gut(othr thn silk-wrm)gut.	1.31	0.14
43.	43	Furskins and artificial fur, manufactures thereof.	0.15	0.01
44.	44	Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal.	0.86	0.13
45.	45	Cork and articles of cork.	0.00
46.	46	Manufactures of straw, of esparto or of other plaiting materials; basketware and wickerwork.	0.00
47.	48	Paper and paperboard; articles of paper pulp, of paper or of paperboard.	40.83	25.68
48.	49	Printed bookds, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry; manuscripts, typescripts and plans.	0.51	0.15
49.	50	Silk	0.16	0.00
50.	51	Wool, fine or coarse animal hair, horsehair yarn and woven fabric.	2.19	0.64
51.	52	Cotton	206.06	125.30
52.	53	Other vegetable textile fibres; paper yarn and woven fabrics of paper yarn.	0.94	0.64
53.	54	Man-made filaments	38.00	9.54
54.	55	Man-made staple fibres	44.25	7.37
55.	56	Wadding, felt and nonwovens; spacial yarns; twine, cordage, ropes and cables and articles thereof.	2.91	1.89
56.	57	Carpets and other textile floor coverings.	2.09	0.27
57.	58	Special woven fabrics; tufted textile fabrics; lace; tapestries; trimmings; embroidery.	1.80	0.52
58.	59	Impregnated, coated, covered or laminated textile fabrics; textile articles of a kind suitable for industrial use.	3.73	0.94
59.	60	Knitted or crocheted fabrics.	5.44	1.87
60.	61	Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, knitted or corcheted.	0.83	0.45
61.	62	Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted.	1.31	0.39
62.	63	Other made up textile articles; sets; worn clothing and worn textile articles; rags	0.93	0.22
63.	64	Footwear, gaiters and the like; parts of such articles.	1.00	0.52
64.	65	Headgear and parts thereof.	0.01	0.00
65.	66	Umbrellas, sun umbrellas, walking-sticks, seat-sticks, whips,riding-crops and parts thereof.
66.	67	Prepared feathers and down and articles made of feathers or of down; artificial flowers; articles of human hair.	3.80	0.37
67.	68	Articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, mica or similar materials.	140.01	75.93
68.	69	Ceramic products.	18.63	9.91
69.	70	Glass and glassware.	8.29	4.04
70.	71	Natural or cultured pearls,precious or semiprecious stones,pre.metals,clad with pre.metal and artcls thereof;imit.jewlry;coin	7.01	1.09
71.	72	Iron and steel	1,098.14	675.22
72.	73	Articles of iron or steel	22.45	11.71
73.	74	Copper and articles thereof.	0.86	1.17
74.	75	Nickel and articles thereof.	0.04	0.01
75.	76	Aluminium and articles thereof.	43.29	21.08
76.	78	Lead and articles thereof.	60.53	19.10
77.	79	Zinc and articles thereof.	7.90	1.01
78.	80	Tin and articles thereof.
79.	81	Other base metals; cermets; articles thereof.	0.64	0.00
80.	82	Tools implements, cutlery, spoons and forks, of base metal; parts thereof of base metal.	2.97	1.09
81.	83	Miscellaneous articles of base metal.	1.83	1.04
82.	84	Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof.	155.24	89.50
83.	85	Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers,and parts.	156.48	109.68
84.	86	Railway or tramway locomotives, rolling-stock and parts thereof; railway or tramway track fixtures and fittings and parts thereof; mechanical	0.01	0.03
85.	87	Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof.	250.55	106.24
86.	88	Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof.	5.93	0.00
87.	89	Ships, boats and floating structures.	6.20	0.02
88.	90	Optical, photographic cinematographic measuring, checking precision, medical or surgical inst. and apparatus parts and accessories thereof;	20.64	9.09
89.	91	Clocks and watches and parts thereof.	1.09	0.16
90.	92	Musical instruments; parts and accessories of such articles.	0.03
91.	93	Arms and ammunition; parts and accessories thereof.	0.01	0.00
92.	94	Furniture; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishing; lamps and lighting fittings not elsewhere specified or inc	6.65	2.23
93.	95	Toys, games and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof.	1.14	0.13
94.	96	Miscellaneous manufactured articles.	8.18	2.97
95.	97	Works of art collectors' pieces and antiques.	0.00	0.01
96.	98	Project goods; some special uses.	0.01	0.00
97.	99	Miscellaneous goods.	0.00	0.00
		Total	5,059.90	2,233.40
India's Total			313,361.04	125,166.44
%Share			1.6147	1.7843

Source: https://tradestat.commerce.gov.in/eidb/ecntcom.asp, accessed on 12-11-2020

An above table clearly reveals that India’s major exports commodities to Vietnam country. Moreover, out of India’s total 313,361.04 exports commodities to other countries of the world in the year 2019-2020, India had exported the total of 5,059.90 exports commodities to the Vietnam country’s purpose. While, out of India’s total 125,166.44 exports commodities to other countries of the world in the year 2020-2021(April-September), India had exported the total of 2,233.40 exports commodities to the Vietnam country’s purpose. This analysis clearly revealed that India’s had significant export trade relations with the Vietnam country.

VII. India’s top 100 imports commodities from the Vietnam:

As per the Department of Commerce under Government of India’s Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s export- import data bank, India’s imports of the top 100 commodities from the Vietnam Socialist Republic are given in the below table. The values are in US $ million and data covered for analysis was till the date of 12-11-2020.

* ITC HS Code of the Commodity is either dropped or re-allocated from April 2019

S. No.	HS Code	Commodity	2019-2020	2020-2021(Apr-Sep(P))	% Growth
1.	03	Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertabrates.	18.93	2.42
2.	04	Dairy produce; birds’ eggs; natural honey; edible prod. Of animal origin, not elsewhere spec. or included.	0.35	0.22
3.	05	Products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included.	0.17	0.00
4.	06	Live trees and other plants; bulbs; roots and the like; cut flowers and ornamental foliage.	0.00	0.00
5.	07	Edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers.	1.27	0.09
6.	08	Edible fruit and nuts; peel or citrus fruit or melons.	32.46	16.58
7.	09	Coffee, tea, mate and spices.	210.25	103.81
8.	10	Cereals.		0.01
9.	11	Products of the milling industry; malt; starches; inulin; wheat gluten.	2.32	0.98
10.	12	Oil seeds and olea fruits; misc. grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal plants; straw and fodder.	13.51	12.73
11.	13	Lac; gums, resins and other vegetable saps and extracts.	3.61	0.72
12.	14	Vegetable plaiting materials; vegetable products not elsewhere specified or included.	13.16	9.22
13.	15	Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; pre. Edible fats; animal or vegetable waxex.	0.02
14.	17	Sugars and sugar confectionery.	0.53	0.31
15.	18	Cocoa and cocoa preparations.	0.00
16.	19	Preparations of cereals, flour, starch or milk; pastrycooks products.	0.74	0.42
17.	20	Preparations of vegetables, fruit, nuts or other parts of plants.	1.99	0.07
18.	21	Miscellaneous edible preparations.	8.95	1.85
19.	22	Beverages, spirits and vinegar.	0.58	0.36
20.	23	Residues and waste from the food industries; prepared animal foder.	65.13	39.35
21.	25	Salt; sulphur; earths and stone; plastering materials, lime and cement.	50.90	18.86
22.	26	Ores, slag and ash.	1.79	1.98
23.	27	Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes.	15.80	4.20
24.	28	Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, or radi. Elem. Or of isotopes.	347.38	120.61
25.	29	Organic chemicals	3.96	1.99
26.	30	Pharmaceutical products	0.10	0.02
27.	31	Fertilisers.	17.72	17.34
28.	32	Tanning or dyeing extracts; tannins and their deri. Dyes, pigments and other colouring matter; paints and ver; putty and other mastics; inks.	3.48	1.39
29.	33	Essential oils and resinoids; perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations.	39.34	1.69
30.	34	Soap, organic surface-active agents, washing preparations, lubricating preparations, artificial waxes, prepared waxes, polishing or scouring prep.	3.82	6.45
31	35	Albuminoidal substances; modified starches; glues; enzymes.	3.99	0.97
32.	38	Miscellaneous chemical products.	41.50	21.01
33.	39	Plastic and articles thereof.	125.91	35.33
34.	40	Rubber and articles thereof.	222.36	51.72
35.	41	Raw hides and skins (other than furskins) and leather	22.09	5.70
36.	42	Articles of leather,saddlery and harness;travel goods, handbags and similar cont.articles of animal gut(othr thn silk-wrm)gut.	3.71	0.81
37.	44	Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal.	33.14	7.93
38.	46	Manufactures of straw, of esparto or of other plaiting materials; basketware and wickerwork.	0.28	0.05
39.	47	Pulp of wood or of other fibrous cellulosic material; waste and scrap of paper or paperboard.	0.24
40.	48	Paper and paperboard; articles of paper pulp, of paper or of paperboard.	9.63	6.03
41.	49	Printed bookds, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry; manuscripts, typescripts and plans.	0.25	0.09
42.	50	Silk	77.11	16.50
43.	51	Wool, fine or coarse animal hair, horsehair yarn and woven fabric.	0.52
44.	52	Cotton.	23.21	4.19
45.	53	Other vegetable textile fibres; paper yarn and woven fabrics of paper yarn.	0.11	0.00
46.	54	Man-made filaments.	81.22	6.27
47.	55	Man-made staple fibres.	28.87	2.90
48.	56	Wadding, felt and nonwovens; rochet yarns; twine, cordage, ropes and cables and articles thereof.	6.81	1.18
49.	57	Carpets and other textile floor coverings.	15.05	4.84
50.	58	Special woven fabrics; tufted textile fabrics; lace; tapestries; trimmings; embroidery.	8.14	2.42
51.	59	Impregnated, coated, covered or laminated textile fabrics; textile articles of a kind suitable for industrial use.	42.71	14.36
52.	60	Knitted or crocheted fabrics.	11.05	4.36
53.	61	Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, knitted or rocheted.	20.42	8.29
54.	62	Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted.	19.62	8.80
55.	63	Other made up textile articles; sets; worn clothing and worn textile articles; rags	18.36	3.99
56.	64	Footwear, gaiters and the like; parts of such articles.	156.39	50.72
57.	65	Headgear and parts thereof.	0.28	0.17
58.	66	Umbrellas, sun umbrellas, walking-sticks, seat-sticks, whips,riding-crops and parts thereof.	0.01	0.00
59.	67	Prepared feathers and down and articles made of feathers or of down; artificial flowers; articles of human hair.	0.01
60.	68	Articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, mica or similar materials.	19.58	3.60
61.	69	Ceramic products.	3.34	1.08
62.	70	Glass and glassware.	0.69	0.44
63.	71	Natural or cultured pearls,precious or semiprecious stones,pre.metals,clad with pre.metal and artcls thereof;imit.jewlry;coin.	0.20	0.41
64.	72	Iron and steel	106.05	54.26
65.	73	Articles of iron or steel	228.15	71.25
66	74	Copper and articles thereof.	447.29	56.69
67.	75	Nickel and articles thereof.	0.11
68	76	Aluminium and articles hereof.	10.08	5.82
69.	78	Lead and articles thereof.	46.54	21.18
70.	79	Zinc and articles thereof.	6.31	0.74
71.	81	Other base metals; cermets; articles thereof.	0.26	0.00
72.	82	Tools implements, cutlery, spoons and forks, of base metal; parts thereof of base metal.	19.39	9.49
73.	83	Miscellaneous articles of base metal.	10.11	2.30
74.	84	Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof.	368.35	168.09
75.	85	Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers,and parts.	4,010.06	1,432.87
76.	86	Railway or tramway locomotives, rolling-stock and parts thereof; railway or tramway track fixtures and fittings and parts thereof; mechanical	0.00
77.	87	Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof.	42.03	14.99
78.	88	Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof.	0.16
79.	89	Ships, boats and floating structures.	0.01	0.09
80.	90	Optical, photographic cinematographic measuring, checking precision, medical or surgical inst. And apparatus parts and accessories thereof;	115.32	29.04
81.	91	Clocks and watches and parts thereof.	0.13	0.24
82.	92	Musical instruments; parts and accessories of such articles.	0.09	0.00
83.	94	Furniture; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishing; lamps and lighting fittings not elsewhere specified or inc	6.23	2.16
84.	95	Toys, games and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof.	3.19	1.63
85.	96	Miscellaneous manufactured articles.	3.74	1.58
86.	97	Works of art collectors’ pieces and antiques.	0.00
87.	98	Project goods; some special uses.	4.49	4.72
88.	99	Miscellaneous goods.	0.11	0.00
		Total	7,283.42	2,505.08
India’s Total			474,709.28	149,508.32
%Share			1.5343	1.6755

Source: https://tradestat.commerce.gov.in/eidb/Icntcom.asp, accessed on 12-11-2020