New Delhi:Vietnam has briefed India about the escalating tension in the South China Sea in the wake of China significantly ramping up its military presence by deploying a large number of ships and fighter jets in the resource-rich region notwithstanding the calls for restraint by several countries.
The issue figured during Vietnamese ambassador Pham Sanh Chau's meeting with Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Friday, people familiar with the development said.
China's aggressive military assertion in the South China Sea came at a time it is engaged in an over three-month-long border row with India in eastern Ladakh.
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No details of the meeting were made available either by the Ministry of External Affairs or by the Vietnam embassy.
"Foreign Secretary @harshvshringla met Amb @SanhChauPham of Vietnam, with whom India has strong ties and a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava tweeted after the meeting.
China claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea, a huge source of hydrocarbons. However, several ASEAN member countries, including Vietnam, Philippines and Brunei, have counter claims.
An attempt by China in 2014 to drill oil in the Paracel islands, claimed by Vietnam, had led to anti-China riots in Vietnam in which several Chinese factories were vandalised.
India has been supporting freedom of navigation and access to resources in the South China Sea in accordance with principles of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.