The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised an interactive session with a visiting three member delegation headed by the Director General of the Institute of Foreign Policy & Security Studies (IFPSS), Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Dr. Vu Le Thai Hoang on December 20, 2022. Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF, chaired the session and made welcome remarks.

The talk focussed on the similarities between India and Vietnam in their foreign policy aspirations. The talk emphasised that both countries seek to have strategic autonomy without external interference in their foreign policy and India has been able to execute the same to a large extent. The rise of China and its impact on India and Vietnam, the emergence of the concept of the Indo-Pacific, the perspectives of the US and China for the region, Russia- China relations, and the scope of Indo-Vietnam cooperation were some of the highlights of the interaction. A wide range of topics such as post-pandemic economic recovery, disruption of supply chains and the need for diversification, South China Sea and formulation of Code of Conduct, India- China border dispute, security of Mekong subregion, maritime cooperation, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, QUAD, and importance of ASEAN centrality in the region was also part of the discussion.