ISAS Seminar: Vietnam's Ties to India

About the Seminar
India, Russia and China are the only three countries with which Vietnam has a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’. In distinguishing between India and China, the Vietnamese view India more favourably. Yet, New Delhi is not high on Vietnam’s priority list, creating a paradox between ambitious goals and weak delivery. The top-down platitudes seem to make Vietnam and India forever allies. However, the truth is modest.

Arguing from the realist prism, the speaker will decode the bilateral relationship, focusing on Vietnam’s views on India. Strong as the political foundation is, India-Vietnam relations have structural limitations, notably, weak economic and cultural links, and only modest defence ties. New Delhi’s limited ability to meet the Vietnamese expectations relegates India to being a passive partner. Such being the reality, one must avoid the hyperbole surrounding this relationship.

This seminar draws upon the speaker’s tour of duty as India’s Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City between 2006 and 2010 as well as from primary sources (government documents), secondary sources (scholarly and media publications) and interviews and discussions during his eight visits
to Vietnam between 2011 and 2023.