India has renewed its support for freedom of navigation in South China Sea. It expressed hope that all parties to the dispute will abide by the 2002 Declaration of conduct in the South China Sea. An External Affairs Ministry spokesman said in New Delhi that the cooperation between India and Vietnam in the field of energy is an important facet of the bilateral partnership and a number of Indian companies are already cooperating closely. He said, New Delhi is looking at further enhancing cooperation in the year's ahead. The spokesman said India's relationship with Vietnam is a key pillar of the Look east policy which has been a resounding success.

The total Indian investment in Vietnam is over four hundred million dollars and the foreign arm of ONGC is the largest investor doing exploratory drilling in some of the blocks awarded to it. On the security environment on the exploration in the South China sea by the ONGC Videsh, the spokesman said every entrepreneur takes decisions in this regard after taking into account the nature of business and investment environment.