India and Vietnam agreed to further strengthen bilateral strategic cooperation in defence and oil and gas sectors as President Ram Nath Kovind held productive and extensive talks with his counterpart Nguyen Phu Trong on Tuesday.

Kovind, who is here on a three-day visit, received a military guard of honour at the Vietnamese Presidential Palace before the talks. This is Kovind-s first visit to South-East Asia and to the ASEAN region as the president. During their talks, the two leaders discussed a range of bilateral and multilateral issues, according to an official statement.