Vietnamese army officer Sr Col Luu Dien Hien addresses the media as Lt Gen Sanjeev Kanal looks on, during India-Vietnam Bilateral Army Exercise

The two sides are likely to sign MoUs in the areas of nuclear energy, agriculture and trade and investment during the visit beginning March 2

NEW DELHI: Ramping up of ties in key areas of defence and trade will be on the top of the agenda when Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang arrives in India later this week on a three-day visit.

This will be Quang's first visit to India as president.

He will be accompanied by an 18-member delegation, including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh as well as the ministers for trade and industry and planning and investment, said Vietnamese envoy to India Ton Sinh Thanh.

The two sides are likely to sign memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in the areas of nuclear energy, agriculture and trade and investment during the visit beginning March 2, the envoy told reporters.

The issue of the South China Sea, where China has been showing increasing assertiveness, will also be discussed, Thanh said in response to a question.

On arriving in India, Quang will first visit the Buddhist religious site Bodh Gaya in Bihar on March 2. The next day, he will hold delegation level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On March 4, the Vietnamese president will deliver an address, which will be an "important policy statement", the envoy said.

Besides holding delegation-level talks with Modi, Quang will meet his Indian counterpart Ram Nath Kovind. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will also call on Quang, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Modi had visited Vietnam in 2016, when the two countries agreed to elevate their 'strategic partnership' to a 'comprehensive strategic partnership'.

President Quang's visit will further deepen Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Vietnam, the MEA said.

"The relations between India and Vietnam are politically quite strong. We have a lot of exchanges between highest ranking leaders. We have very strong and very effective defence cooperation but we still have many other areas to be exploited for cooperation," he added.

Defence has been a key element of the ties between India and Vietnam and the two countries have "very strong and very effective defence cooperation", he said.

"Leaders of the two countries will discuss how to deepen cooperation in this area, especially on how to implement and realise the credit line on defence that India has announced for Vietnam," Thanh said.

Modi had announced a grant of USD 5 million for the construction of an Army Software Park at the Telecommunications University in Nha Trang during his visit to the country. A Line of Credit of USD 100 million is already being used for eight off-shore patrol vessels to Vietnam.

The armies of the two countries, for the first time, conducted joint military exercise last month. Vietnam also buys defence equipment for navy and air force.

Thanh, however, parried questions on the Brahmos deal. Vietnam has shown an interest in buying the Brahmos supersonic missile from India.

A business delegation of 65 businessmen from 34 Vietnamese companies will also visit India. President Quang will also have an interaction with prominent Indian businessmen.

Agreements related to the building of a coal terminal in Vietnam and the joint development of a port will also be signed between Indian and Vietnamese companies, officials said.

Last year, trade volume reached USD 7.6 billion, an increase of 40 per cent from the previous year.

Vietnam exports a lot of manufacturing products to India, including mobile phones, machineries and computers. India exports machineries, textile materials, sea food and medicines to Vietnam.

Thanh said the trade volume between the two sides has not reached the expected level and investments from India in Vietnam are still very low.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was in Delhi in January as chief guest during the Republic Day parade along with nine other leaders from ASEAN countries.