India's Strategic Partnership with Vietnam: The Search for a Diamond on the South China Sea?

Abstract For more than 40 years, India and Vietnam have consistently stood together in resisting Chinese domination of Indochina. The relationship represents one of the few longstanding political partnerships between East and South Asia. In recent years, the two have been seeking to recalibrate their relationship in the context not only of China's growing economic and military power but also India's own security ambitions in the region. What are India's aspirations to project naval power into the South China Sea and how is this perceived in the region? This article looks at this longstanding political alliance in light of India's attempts at strategic engagement with Southeast Asia.