India and Vietnam have agreed to deepen defence and security cooperation, including exploring co-production of military equipment, according to reporting from the 19th India-Vietnam Joint Commission meeting.
The two countries have built a steadily closer strategic relationship around maritime security, training, capacity building and defence exchanges. Co-production would move the relationship further into industrial collaboration rather than limiting it to procurement and exercises.
For India, the partnership sits within its Act East policy and wider Indo-Pacific engagement. For Vietnam, defence diversification is part of a broader effort to strengthen strategic autonomy. The specific commercial projects, timelines and platforms will still require separate agreements.
