Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday met his Vietnamese counterpart, General Phan Van Giang, in Hanoi, where they reviewed the growing partnership between the two countries and discussed ways to deepen cooperation in maritime security, defence industry, training, and regional stability. As per a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence, the two sides exchanged views on regional and global security developments of mutual interest and emphasised the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region. The statement added that they discussed avenues to expand cooperation in areas including military training, defence industry collaboration, maritime security, capacity building, United Nations peacekeeping, cyber security, and high-level exchanges. They also agreed to enhance cooperation between the defence forces through regular dialogues, joint exercises and exchange programmes. The bilateral defence engagements have expanded over the years and include wide-ranging contacts between the two countries, such as Defence Policy Dialogues, military-to-military exchanges, high-level visits, capacity-building and training programmes, cooperation in UN peacekeeping, ship visits, and bilateral exercises. In June 2022, when Singh …