With breakthrough outcomes, the visits to India and Sri Lanka by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam marked an important historical milestone, elevating Viet Nam’s relations with South Asian countries to a new height and serving as a foundation for the countries to move firmly into a new era of development, contributing positively to peace, stability, cooperation, and prosperity in the region and the world.
From long-standing close historical and cultural bonds, the friendship and sound cooperation between Viet Nam and India have demonstrated enduring vitality over time, with remarkable achievements across all fields of cooperation. The new context and development goals of each country have created an urgent need to consolidate, strengthen, and elevate bilateral relations to a new level. The recent State visit to India by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam continued the successful tradition of strong and effective cooperation between the two countries.
During the visit, the two sides issued a Joint Statement on the Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Republic of India.
This is a brilliant milestone, marking the beginning of a new chapter in bilateral relations. The Joint Statement clearly stated that the two sides agreed to continue elevating Viet Nam–India bilateral relations to an Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the spirit of “shared vision, strategic convergence, substantive cooperation,” with the desire to turn political will into concrete results.
According to the Joint Statement, the two leaders emphasised that deepening Viet Nam–India relations would continue to bring practical benefits to the people of the two countries, while making important contributions to the development goals of each country, namely India’s “Viksit Bharat 2047” vision and Viet Nam’s goal of becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045.
At meetings and talks with Indian leaders, including Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam stated clearly that the two countries still have enormous potential and advantages for expanding cooperation. The two sides agreed to take science-technology, innovation, and digital transformation as drivers for the new stage of development in bilateral relations.
With profound and comprehensive content reviewing the journey of connection and companionship between Viet Nam and India from the past to the present while outlining future prospects, the policy speech delivered by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam at the Indian Council of World Affairs received warm attention and support from Indian and international friends.
In the speech, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam expressed his belief that, with the Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership at a new height and the motto of “shared vision, strategic convergence, substantive cooperation,” together with the Government’s decisive measures and the determination, unity, creativity and innovative spirit of businesses in both countries, Viet Nam–India relations would continue to develop more strongly and substantively.
With the outcomes that established a new stature for relations between Viet Nam and India and Sri Lanka, the State visits by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and the high-level Vietnamese delegation affirmed the strong determination to move these relationships from historical depth to cooperation for shared development on the basis of a shared vision.
Meanwhile, Viet Nam and Sri Lanka — a country with a strategic position in the Indian Ocean — also share similarities in history, culture, and development aspirations, while both uphold the spirit of compassion, tolerance, and harmony.
Within the framework of the State visit to Sri Lanka, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam held talks with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and met with Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and Speaker of Parliament Jagath Wickramaratne. The two sides agreed to elevate political trust and comprehensively develop the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.
Party General Secretary and State President To Lam affirmed that Viet Nam stands ready to supply the Sri Lankan market with products in which Viet Nam has strengths and Sri Lanka has demand, such as food products and agricultural machinery.
On the foundation of political trust, traditional friendship, and increasingly extensive cooperation needs, Viet Nam and Sri Lanka agreed to upgrade bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Partnership. This is an important milestone, opening up a new space for more comprehensive, substantive, and effective cooperation between the two countries.
The Joint Statement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on upgrading relations to a Comprehensive Partnership on the occasion of the State visit by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam to Sri Lanka from May 7–8, 2026 clearly stated that the two sides expressed satisfaction with the development of traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries and officially announced the upgrading of bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Partnership.
With the upgrading of bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Partnership, the two sides committed to continuing to consolidate and strengthen friendly cooperation, establish political trust at a high level, and expand the scale and level of cooperation in a comprehensive and substantive manner across all fields.
The speech delivered by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam at the Sri Lankan Parliament inspired lawmakers regarding national development and the cultivation of profound and strong relations with Viet Nam. Sharing about Viet Nam’s development journey and proposing several directions for further deepening bilateral relations, the Party General Secretary and State President clearly stated that, from Ha Noi to Colombo, from the East Sea/South China Sea to the Indian Ocean, Viet Nam and Sri Lanka share a common belief: peace is the foundation, people are the centre, development is the goal, and friendship is the most sustainable bridge connecting the two nations.
With the outcomes that established a new stature for relations between Viet Nam and India and Sri Lanka, the State visits by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and the high-level Vietnamese delegation affirmed the strong determination to move these relationships from historical depth to cooperation for shared development on the basis of a shared vision. From now on, a new chapter has been opened, in which Viet Nam and South Asian countries will continue to be reliable friends and important partners of one another, engaging in deeper, more substantive, and effective cooperation, while accompanying each other on the journey toward peace, stability, and prosperous development.
