India and Vietnam elevated ties to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership during Vietnamese leader To Lam's May 5-7 state visit, during which he and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a target to raise bilateral trade from $16 billion currently to $25 billion by 2030, according to a joint statement released on May 6. The two sides signed 13 memorandums of understanding covering rare earths, digital payments, energy, healthcare and other areas, agreed to establish an official dialogue among their foreign and defense ministries, and expanded defense cooperation, including discussing a possible $629 million sale of India's BrahMos missile system, though no formal weapons agreement is likely by the end of the visit.

The visit fits Vietnam's wider effort to balance its ties with India, China, the United States, Japan and Russia. Vietnam holds an estimated 3.5 million metric tons of rare earth reserves but has limited mining and refining capacity, and its revised minerals law restricts refined rare earth exports and reaffirms a ban on rare earth ore exports, underscoring that Hanoi wants foreign partners to help build domestic processing.