Party General Secretary and President To Lam has successfully concluded his State visits to the Republic of India from May 5 to 7 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka from May 7 to 8 at the invitation of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Party General Secretary and President To Lam’s visit has become an important political milestone, creating an opportunity for both sides to review the implementation of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework over the past decade and to shape a higher-level framework for relations between Viet Nam and India.

The visit to Sri Lanka by Party General Secretary and President To Lam has made an important contribution to consolidating the traditional friendship between the two countries, strengthening the sincere bonds of friendship between the leaders and peoples of both nations forged throughout history, while also generating fresh momentum and shaping a new framework for bilateral cooperation in the next stage.

During his State visit to India, Party General Secretary and President To Lam attended the official welcoming ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan; held talks and attended a banquet hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi; witnessed, together with Prime Minister Modi, the exchange of cooperation agreements; and met with and attended a banquet hosted by Indian President Droupadi Murmu. He also delivered remarks at the Indian Council of World Affairs and attended and addressed the Viet Nam–India Innovation Forum. In addition, Party General Secretary and President To Lam visited Mumbai, where he held meetings with state leaders, received representatives of several businesses, and attended and addressed the Viet Nam–India Business Forum.

On the morning of May 6, following the State welcoming ceremony co-chaired by President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, conducted with the highest protocol reserved for heads of state, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the remarkable progress achieved across numerous fields over the past decade since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework. Party General Secretary and President To Lam stressed that the two countries still possess enormous potential and advantages for expanding cooperation, bringing practical benefits to the peoples and businesses of both nations, and proposed that both sides continue facilitating greater business presence in each other’s markets. On that basis, the two sides agreed to elevate relations to an “Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” under the spirit of “shared vision, strategic convergence and substantive cooperation”, opening a new phase in bilateral relations.

To concretise the Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the two leaders held frank discussions and agreed on strategic orientations aimed at further deepening cooperation across all areas. Accordingly, both sides affirmed the importance of substantially strengthening political trust on the basis of shared strategic visions, serving as the core foundation guiding bilateral relations. The two countries also agreed to maintain high-level exchanges and regular contacts, while further enhancing the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation mechanisms, including the Viet Nam–India Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation.

Both sides underscored the pivotal role of defence and security cooperation and affirmed their commitment to expanding collaboration in defence industry, security industry, maritime security, cyber security, information sharing and counter-terrorism. India also pledged to continue supporting Viet Nam in defence and security training and capacity building.

In economic, trade and investment cooperation, the two leaders agreed to create breakthroughs and enhance complementarity under the principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, particularly in strengthening supply chain and global value chain connectivity. The two sides aim to raise bilateral trade turnover to 25 billion USD by 2030 in a balanced and sustainable manner, while removing trade barriers to facilitate greater market access for each other’s goods. Party General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed that Viet Nam stands ready to increase imports from India in order to diversify inputs for production, and suggested that India gradually consider easing regulations related to standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for Vietnamese products.

Party General Secretary and President To Lam and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also agreed to make science and technology, innovation and digital transformation the driving forces for the next phase of bilateral relations. The two sides agreed to expand and further promote cooperation in core technologies such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, information technology, 6G, healthcare, the exploitation and processing of critical minerals, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. They also agreed to foster a collaborative ecosystem among technology enterprises of the two countries, moving towards the establishment of joint ventures, research and development centres, and shared innovation hubs.

Regarding regional and international issues, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, particularly the United Nations, ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms. Prime Minister Narendra Modi highly appreciated ASEAN’s central role. The two countries also stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability, ensuring maritime and aviation security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight, and resolving disputes through peaceful means in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

Following the talks, General Secretary and President To Lam and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed the signing and exchange of numerous cooperation documents in the fields of science and technology, critical minerals, healthcare, tourism and culture, finance, cyber security, local cooperation, and auditing. The two sides also agreed to direct ministries and sectors to urgently and effectively implement the agreements reached, ushering Viet Nam–India relations into a new stage of development.

President Droupadi Murmu welcomed the signing of numerous cooperation documents in fields such as science and technology, cyber security, healthcare, critical minerals, and tourism during the visit by General Secretary and President To Lam. Reaffirming strong support for further deepening bilateral relations under the new framework, the Indian President said stronger ties would bring practical benefits to the peoples of both countries, citing the healthcare cooperation document as an example that would help deliver more high-quality and affordable medical products to consumers.

At a reception for Kusum Jain, President of the India–Viet Nam Friendship Association, General Secretary and President To Lam thanked members of the association for helping build the house of Viet Nam–India solidarity. He proposed that the association continue promoting and expanding people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, particularly in culture, education, Buddhism, innovation, and local cooperation.

Members of the India–Viet Nam Friendship Association delegation expressed their desire to strengthen cultural exchanges and dialogue between the peoples of the two countries; cooperate in publishing books about President Ho Chi Minh, Viet Nam, its people, and the country’s Doi Moi process; and open Vietnamese language classes in Kolkata.

General Secretary and President To Lam welcomed the association’s proposals and recommendations, expressing confidence that the India–Viet Nam Friendship Association, together with the Viet Nam–India Friendship Association, would continue playing a core role in spreading positive inspiration and momentum to further strengthen friendship, connectivity, and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

General Secretary and President To Lam also delivered an important policy speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs under the theme “Viet Nam–India Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in a New Era: Shared Vision, Strategic Convergence, and Substantive Cooperation.” He stressed that the bonds connecting the two countries, along with shared vision and strategic convergence, constitute a solid foundation for Viet Nam and India to strengthen cooperation, contribute effectively to each country’s development journey in the new era, and help shape a more stable and sustainable regional and international environment.

To bring Viet Nam–India cooperation into a new stage at a higher level, General Secretary and President To Lam expressed hope that both sides would consolidate and further deepen strategic trust; strengthen comprehensive exchanges across all channels; expand cooperation in strategic areas; and further enhance the effectiveness of coordination and shared positions at multilateral forums.

Entering a new era, with the Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership reaching a new height and guided by the motto “shared vision, strategic convergence and substantive cooperation,” together with the Government’s decisive measures and the determination, unity, creativity, and innovation of businesses in both countries, General Secretary and President To Lam expressed confidence that Viet Nam–India relations would continue to develop more strongly and substantively, connectivity between the two countries would become even closer, bringing practical benefits and success to the development of each nation, while contributing positively to peace, stability, cooperation, and prosperity in the region and the world.

Attending and delivering a keynote address at the Viet Nam-India Innovation Forum on cooperation in human resource development, science, technology, innovation and digital transformation, General Secretary and State President To Lam stressed that Viet Nam-India relations are entering a new stage of development in which knowledge, data, technology and high-quality human resources should become the new driving forces of strategic cooperation. The General Secretary and State President stated that businesses from both countries should play a pioneering role by boldly investing in new technologies, strengthening research and development cooperation, and participating in symbolic cooperation projects, thereby deepening Viet Nam-India relations through production linkages, technology transfer and participation in global value chains. The synergy between India’s outstanding technological strengths and Vietnamese youth eager to master technology will create a formidable workforce.

General Secretary and State President To Lam called for stronger substantive connections among research institutes, universities and businesses of the two countries, aiming towards the formation of a Viet Nam-India technology human resources corridor. He emphasised linking science and technology cooperation with the goals of sustainable, inclusive and people-centred development, ensuring that the achievements of innovation are widely shared, contributing to improving people’s quality of life, narrowing development gaps and enhancing the ability to respond to global challenges.

The General Secretary and State President affirmed that with a foundation of political trust, complementarity between the two economies and the vast potential of human resources, cooperation in science, technology, innovation and digital transformation will become an important pillar, directly contributing to economic growth, enhancing competitiveness and strengthening each country’s strategic autonomy.

On this occasion, General Secretary and State President To Lam, together with the Vietnamese Minister of Science and Technology and the Indian Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents among research institutes, universities, associations and enterprises in the fields of human resource development, science and technology, innovation and digital transformation between the two countries. This marks the beginning of concrete cooperation programmes in personnel training, joint research, technology transfer, product development, market expansion and the connection of Viet Nam-India innovation ecosystems.

As part of the visit, General Secretary and State President To Lam and members of the high-level Vietnamese delegation laid wreaths in tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at the Ho Chi Minh Statue located in G20 Park in New Delhi; paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial in New Delhi; and met with the Vietnamese community in India.

After concluding activities in New Delhi, General Secretary and State President To Lam travelled to Mumbai, where he met with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra State, the Governor of Maharashtra State, and representatives of several Indian corporations and businesses; delivered remarks at the Viet Nam-India Business Forum; and rang the bell to open trading at the National Stock Exchange of India.

Delivering a keynote address at the Viet Nam-India Business Forum, General Secretary and State President To Lam stressed that the time has come for Viet Nam-India cooperation to be elevated to a new level — not only expanding in scale, but more importantly improving in quality, depth and strategic value. He expressed his hope that Vietnamese and Indian businesses would become more proactive and bold in investment, partnerships, technology sharing and market expansion, transforming meetings, exchanges and contacts into concrete agreements, contracts and projects. He affirmed that the Party and State of Viet Nam would always accompany the business community in turning cooperation projects, contracts and agreements into new success stories in Viet Nam-India relations.

In the evolving regional economic architecture, Viet Nam and India are not only two dynamic developing economies, but also two important poles connecting Southeast Asia and South Asia within the Indo-Pacific region. If Viet Nam serves as ASEAN’s gateway, linked with a network of new-generation free trade agreements, then India stands as the centre of South Asia with an increasingly significant role in global supply chains. The connection between the two economies therefore carries not only bilateral significance, but also opens opportunities to access vast markets and emerging value chains.

The State visit by General Secretary and State President To Lam to Sri Lanka not only reaffirms Viet Nam’s commitment to strengthening ties with Sri Lanka, but also opens opportunities to elevate the traditional friendship from historical depth to cooperation for shared development and prosperity for the two peoples.

On the morning of May 8, at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, immediately after the official welcome ceremony, General Secretary and State President To Lam held talks with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The leadership and people of Sri Lanka have always maintained sincere and friendly sentiments towards Viet Nam and President Ho Chi Minh under all circumstances. We deeply admire Viet Nam as a model of development in the region and the world, and greatly respect the Communist Party of Viet Nam for leading the country to its achievements today.

Commending the bilateral relationship for entering what they described as its strongest phase of development, the two leaders discussed major strategic directions to further deepen ties in line with the considerable untapped potential of both countries and elevate bilateral cooperation to a new level.

The two sides agreed to strengthen political trust and comprehensively develop the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries. They also agreed to expand high-level and all-level exchanges and contacts, regularly implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms across various fields, promote relations between the two ruling parties, and enhance exchanges on theoretical issues, foreign policy, and regional and international matters of mutual concern. Both sides agreed to make defence and security cooperation more substantive and effective.

Highlighting the significant potential for trade and investment cooperation, the two leaders agreed to introduce breakthrough measures aimed at achieving bilateral trade turnover of 1 billion USD in the near future.

The two leaders also agreed to strengthen cooperation in agriculture, agricultural supply chain connectivity, post-harvest preservation technology, fisheries, science and technology, and digital transformation. They pledged to share experience in developing key export products and implement mutually beneficial research and technology transfer projects, with a view to establishing symbolic bilateral projects between the two countries.

The two sides agreed to make cooperation in culture, education, people-to-people connectivity, and exchanges an important pillar of bilateral relations. Accordingly, the two countries will expand tourism cooperation, particularly spiritual tourism; open direct air routes between the two countries; and promote collaboration and linkages among universities and research institutes. Party General Secretary and State President To Lam stressed the need for both countries to move swiftly to implement the agreements reached.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and President Dissanayake witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents in the fields of security, science and technology, culture, information and communications, and co-chaired a joint press briefing.

The two sides also issued a Joint Statement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on upgrading bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Partnership during the State visit to Sri Lanka by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam from May 7 to 8, 2026.

The Joint Statement emphasised that both sides were pleased with the development of the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries and officially announced the elevation of bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Partnership.

With the upgrade of bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Partnership, the two leaders pledged to continue consolidating and strengthening friendly cooperation, establish high-level political trust, and broaden the scale and depth of cooperation in a comprehensive and substantive manner across all fields. The upgrade is also based on respect for international law, independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, political systems, and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam also held talks with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya.

Emphasising the untapped potential in trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam proposed that the Sri Lankan Government facilitate and introduce preferential policies for major Vietnamese enterprises investing in such sectors as infrastructure, services, tourism, electric vehicles, technology, and telecommunications. He also called for active implementation of specific measures to enable goods from both countries to access each other’s markets, with the aim of reaching bilateral trade turnover of 1 billion USD. The two sides also agreed to consider signing government-level agreements to strengthen cooperation in new and highly promising areas such as strategic minerals, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, seaports, and aviation connectivity.

Sharing major orientations for bilateral relations with Party General Secretary and State President To Lam, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya affirmed that, based on the newly established Comprehensive Partnership, the Sri Lankan Government would continue to coordinate closely with the Vietnamese Government to promote cooperation across various fields. The two leaders agreed that both sides would work together to turn their positive intentions and aspirations for bilateral ties into reality, so that in the future the two countries could look back with pride on the achievements resulting from today’s determination.

During a meeting with Speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament Jagath Wickramaratne, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam informed him of the highly successful talks with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, particularly the agreement to elevate bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Partnership and to outline comprehensive and substantive directions for cooperation across all sectors.

Highlighting the important role of parliamentary cooperation between the two countries, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam expressed his hope that both sides would strengthen close coordination, soon sign a cooperation agreement, and jointly oversee the effective implementation of high-level agreements and signed cooperation documents, particularly in economic cooperation, while sharing experience in institution-building and improving legal frameworks for the development of the digital economy and digital society.

The General Secretary and President hoped that Sri Lanka would continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, study, and do business in Sri Lanka, including Vietnamese Buddhist monks and nuns participating in Buddhist studies.

General Secretary and President To Lam delivers a speech at the Sri Lankan Parliament.

General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed that Viet Nam and Sri Lanka, though geographically distant, are very close in history, culture, and aspirations for development. Since establishing diplomatic relations on July 21, 1970, Viet Nam-Sri Lanka relations have been nurtured for over half a century.

Sharing about Viet Nam's development journey, General Secretary and President To Lam said that when the Doi Moi (Renewal) process began in 1986, Viet Nam faced countless difficulties. Viet Nam chose Doi Moi. Doi Moi, first and foremost, means reforming thinking. To develop the country, it is necessary to look directly at the truth, accurately assess reality, boldly change outdated mechanisms, unleash the creativity of the people, promote the role of businesses, open up to integration with the world, and build a socialist rule of law state, of the people, by the people, and for the people.

General Secretary and President To Lam expressed that with the results achieved, Viet Nam is not complacent; on the contrary, the more it develops, the more Viet Nam understands that development is a continuous journey of innovation, self-adjustment, self-improvement, and progress. From that journey, Viet Nam has drawn some valuable lessons for developing countries: steadfastly maintaining independence and self-reliance, while proactively and actively integrating into the international community, attracting international investment, and developing trade in parallel with enhancing endogenous capacity; promoting the role of law, the National Assembly, and national governance in creating development; innovation must begin with reforming thinking and perfecting institutions; placing the people at the center, as the goal and driving force of development; and considering agriculture, farmers, and rural areas as the important foundation of stability and development.

Regarding bilateral relations, General Secretary and President To Lam informed the Parliament and people of Sri Lanka that, based on political trust, traditional friendship, and the need for increasingly deeper cooperation, Viet Nam and Sri Lanka have agreed to upgrade their bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Partnership. This is an important milestone, opening up a new, more comprehensive, substantive, and effective space for cooperation between the two countries.

Within this new framework, the two countries have more favorable conditions to deepen cooperation in politics, defense and security, economics, trade, investment, agriculture, education, culture, tourism, science and technology, digital transformation, and multilateral coordination.

General Secretary and President To Lam and the high-level Vietnamese delegation attended the Viet Nam-Sri Lanka Trade, Investment and Tourism Cooperation Forum. The General Secretary and President emphasised that the forum is not only a place for meetings and exchanges of cooperation opportunities, but also a symbol of the connection between the two economies, between the two regions, and more broadly, between the global flows of trade, investment, and development.

Although economic cooperation between the two countries has made certain progress, it must be frankly acknowledged that the current scale is still modest compared to its potential. In the future, Viet Nam-Sri Lanka cooperation needs to be implemented with an effective, focused approach and aimed at concrete results.

First, both sides need to prioritise the development of logistics connectivity and goods transshipment. This is an area that suits Sri Lanka’s advantages and Viet Nam’s needs in expanding its economic space into the Indian Ocean. Second, promote highly complementary areas of cooperation such as agriculture, food processing, textiles, intermediary trade, and services. These are areas that can be implemented quickly and create tangible results. Third, strengthen tourism connectivity and people-to-people exchanges. When people are connected, trust is strengthened, and economic flows will develop naturally.

During the visit, General Secretary and President To Lam laid flowers to express his respect and remembrance of President Ho Chi Minh at the Ho Chi Minh Statue located in the grounds of the Colombo Community Library (Colombo); visited the Ho Chi Minh Space at the Colombo Community Library; met with Sri Lankan business leaders; and met with the Vietnamese community in Sri Lanka.

The State visit of General Secretary and President To Lam to India and Sri Lanka has become an important political milestone, creating new momentum and opening a new phase of development for relations between Viet Nam and India and Sri Lanka, with strengthened political trust, deeper and more effective cooperation.