India and Vietnam Deepen Coast Guard Cooperation as Maritime Partnership Expands in Indo-Pacific

India and Vietnam have moved to deepen their maritime-security partnership as the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) held their seventh High-Level Meeting in Chennai on August 25, 2026. The talks focused on strengthening professional cooperation, maritime engagement and operational coordination between the two services.

The Indian delegation was led by Director General Paramesh Sivamani, while the Vietnamese side was headed by Major General Luong Dinh Hung, Vice Commandant of the Vietnam Coast Guard. Before the formal talks, Major General Hung called on the Indian Coast Guard chief during the Vietnamese delegation’s visit to Chennai. The meeting provided both sides with an institutional platform to assess their growing operational relationship and identify areas for deeper cooperation.

The latest engagement builds on a structured maritime partnership that has been developing for more than a decade. India and Vietnam signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Coast Guard Cooperation in 2015, creating a framework for regular interactions between the two maritime forces. At their sixth High-Level Meeting in Hanoi in August 2025, the two sides had focused specifically on maritime search and rescue, law enforcement, marine-pollution response and capacity building. They also discussed cooperation against smuggling, trafficking and illegal fishing.

These areas are increasingly important as commercial shipping, fishing activity and strategic competition continue to grow across the wider Indo-Pacific maritime space. Greater coordination between the Indian and Vietnamese Coast Guards can improve information sharing, search-and-rescue preparedness, pollution-response capability and cooperation against transnational maritime crime. Regular ship visits, training programmes and exchanges of operational experience can also improve interoperability between the two services.

The Chennai meeting therefore represents more than a routine bilateral exchange. It adds a practical maritime-security dimension to the expanding India-Vietnam strategic relationship while strengthening links between two countries with substantial interests in maintaining secure and open sea lanes. Both Coast Guards reaffirmed their commitment to sustained engagement and stronger cooperation toward a safe, secure and sustainable maritime environment.