New Delhi (VNA) - Prime Minister Le Minh Hung’s participation in the 18th BRICS Summit and bilateral activities in India from September 12-13 delivered significant results, helping advance Vietnam’s multilateral diplomacy and strengthen ties with India and other BRICS members and partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung has said.
In an interview with Vietnam News Agency correspondents in New Delhi following the PM’s working trip, Trung highlighted its significance and outcomes.
At the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also Chair of BRICS 2026, PM Hung led a high-level Vietnamese delegation to the summit and conducted bilateral engagements in New Delhi. The trip was among Vietnam’s important high-level multilateral diplomatic activities in 2026, as well as a significant high-level activity with India following the state visit to India by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam in May.
Trung noted that despite lasting just over 24 hours, PM Hung’s schedule was intensive and substantive. He attended and addressed the 18th BRICS Summit, held talks with his Indian counterpart Modi, and met with the Presidents of Russia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Burundi, the Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Ethiopia, and heads of delegations from Cuba and Saudi Arabia.
The Vietnamese leader also held meetings with leaders of international organisations, including the UN Secretary-General, the WTO Director-General, the WHO Director-General and the President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), as well as Indian partners and businesses.
Vietnam’s participation, especially the Vietnamese leader’s speech at the summit, was highly appreciated by BRICS member nations and the host country, Trung said.
Addressing issues of common concern, PM Hung affirmed Vietnam’s support for closer coordination between BRICS and regional, inter-regional and global multilateral mechanisms to contribute to peace, stability and cooperation; create equal and sustainable development opportunities for all countries; promote dialogue and cooperation; and build and strengthen trust, towards addressing global challenges, and speeding up reform of the multilateral system to better serve the interests of developing countries.
He also put forward three key proposals: shifting from responding to volatility to proactively enhancing resilience and self-reliance of economies; moving from expanding the scale of cooperation to renewing traditional growth drivers while creating new, inclusive and sustainable ones; and turning opportunities for cooperation in science, technology and innovation into concrete programmes and projects that serve the common interests of countries and translate commitments and initiatives into practice.
These are practical proposals for both BRICS and Vietnam, particularly amid the current international situation, Trung said.
Indian PM Modi said Vietnam’s contributions helped elevate the summit, while Indian media noted that Vietnam’s presence not only promoted its relations with BRICS but also helped strengthen connectivity between BRICS and ASEAN.
Regarding bilateral ties, Trung said the talks between PM Hung and his Indian counterpart Modi provided an important opportunity to review cooperation since General Secretary and President Lam’s visit to India in May, and the elevation of bilateral relations to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership. The two sides agreed that bilateral relations had developed positively and substantively across areas, and identified concrete directions and measures to effectively implement high-level agreements.
PM Hung’s meetings with leaders of countries, international organisations and partners also helped consolidate political trust, strengthen friendship and promote cooperation in areas of mutual interest, and open new avenues for cooperation in the coming time.
According to the minister, Vietnam’s participation in the 18th BRICS Summit and its bilateral engagements on the sidelines of the summit represented concrete and effective implementation of the foreign policy set out by the 14th National Party Congress, including efforts to elevate Vietnam’s participation in multilateral institutions.
As BRICS marks its 20th anniversary this year, Vietnam’s participation as a partner country not only strengthens its engagement and contributions to the grouping but also promotes relations with its members and other BRICS partner countries, Trung noted.
Through cooperation within BRICS, Vietnam will strengthen mutual understanding and political trust while exploring new and practical cooperation opportunities that can contribute to national development, particularly in areas suited to Vietnam’s needs and the strengths of the partners, including diversifying trade and investment markets; developing science and technology; and implementing concrete projects in energy, infrastructure, human resources training, healthcare, education, tourism and culture, the minister added.
Looking ahead, Trung said Vietnam will actively coordinate with BRICS member nations and partners to contribute to cooperation pillars that match its capabilities and interests, particularly economic resilience and self-reliance and new growth drivers, while working to strengthen the role of multilateral institutions in serving developing countries, including Vietnam.
For bilateral cooperation, particularly with India, the two sides will pursue greater strategic convergence and more practical connectivity through concrete programmes and plans at all levels, and across sectors and localities, the minister noted.
He stressed that commitments and agreements reached during the trip will be translated into concrete projects and substantive economic outcomes, contributing directly to Vietnam’s socio-economic development goals./.
