News Brief | September 2014
India, Vietnam to deepen cooperation in oil
India and Vietnam have agreed to deepen cooperation in defence and oil sectors among others as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral ties with the strategically-important country. Putting into play the "Act East Policy" of the Narendra Modi government, Swaraj held meetings with her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during which a number of key bilateral and regional issues were discussed. The two sides also discussed Indian investments in Vietnam's oil sector. Both sides also discussed the five oil blocks which Vietnam had offered to India during the visit of Secretary General of Vietnamese Communist party Nguyen Phu Trong, last November. The visit to Vietnam comes just days after Hanoi renewed India's lease of two oil blocks in South China Sea for another year, a move that could rile China.