HANOI — Vietnam and the European Union said on Thursday they elevated diplomatic relations, as both sides seek to expand international partnerships amid global disruptions.

The largely diplomatic move entails no binding commitments but carries political weight at a time when the EU and Vietnam are seeking to deepen international ties as they both face up to higher levies on their exports to the United States.

The upgrade is “a historical milestone underlining the great achievements that the two sides have made,” Vietnam’s President Luong Cuong said at the start of a meeting in Hanoi with European Council President Antonio Costa.

A free trade agreement between Vietnam and the 27-country EU entered into force in 2020.

Mr. Costa, who arrived in Hanoi after the EU struck a major trade deal with India on Tuesday, said the upgraded partnership “highlights the importance we attach to the region and to Vietnam’s growing role”.

“At a moment when the international rules-based order is under threat from multiple sides, we need to start to stand side by side as reliable and predictable partners,” Mr. Costa added.

The elevation of ties to Vietnam’s highest level, the same as the United States, China, and Russia, usually involves more frequent high-level meetings.

It is also expected to generate a stronger partnership, according to a joint statement adopted on Thursday, which says the two sides will explore and deepen cooperation in multiple sectors, including defense, critical minerals, semiconductors, transport and “trusted communications infrastructure”, confirming a Reuters report on Wednesday.

Mr. Costa acknowledged different views with Vietnam, a long-time Russian partner, over the war in Ukraine and human rights.

But he added that the two countries agree on their support of multilateralism and “the principles of independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty.” — Reuters

LAHORE/HANOI — Authorities in Pakistan have ordered enhanced screening of people entering the country for signs of infections of the deadly Nipah virus after India confirmed two cases, adding to the number of Asian countries stepping up controls.

Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam have also tightened screening at airports.

The Nipah virus can cause fever and brain inflammation and has a high mortality rate. There is also no vaccine. But transmission from person to person is not easy and typically requires prolonged contact with an infected individual.

“It has become imperative to strengthen preventative and surveillance measures at Pakistan’s borders,” the Border Health Services department said in a statement.

“All travelers shall undergo thermal screening and clinical assessment at the Point of Entry,” which includes seaports, land borders and airports, the department added.

The agency said travelers would need to provide transit history for the preceding 21-day period to check whether they had been through “Nipah-affected or high-risk regions”.

There are no direct flights between Pakistan and India and travel between the two countries is extremely limited, particularly since their worst fighting in decades in May last year.

In Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital’s health department on Wednesday also ordered the screening of incoming passengers at Noi Bai airport, particularly those arriving from India and the eastern state of West Bengal, where the two health workers were confirmed to have the virus in late December.

Passengers will be checked with body temperature scanners to detect suspected cases. “This allows for timely isolation, epidemiological investigation,” the department said in a statement.

That follows measures by authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city, who said they had tightened health controls at international border crossings.

India’s health ministry said this week that authorities have identified and traced 196 contacts linked to the two cases with none showing symptoms and all testing negative for the virus.

Nipah is a rare viral infection that spreads largely from infected animals, mainly fruit bats, to humans. It can be asymptomatic but it is often very dangerous, with a case fatality rate of 40% to 75%, depending on the local healthcare system’s capacity for detection and management, according to the World Health Organization.

The virus was first identified just over 25 years ago during an outbreak among pig farmers in Malaysia and Singapore, although scientists believe it has circulated in flying foxes, or fruit bats, for thousands of years.

The WHO classifies Nipah as a priority pathogen. India regularly reports sporadic infections, particularly in the southern state of Kerala, regarded as one of the world’s highest-risk regions for Nipah.

As of December 2025, there have been 750 confirmed Nipah infections globally, with 415 deaths, according to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is funding a vaccine trial to help stop Nipah. — Reuters

BEIJING — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday that he wanted to build a “sophisticated relationship” with Beijing to boost growth and security, signaling a reset after years of strained ties.

On the most important day of his four-day visit to China, the first by a British prime minister in eight years, Mr. Starmer held an 80-minute summit with Mr. Xi at the Great Hall of the People before they lunched together. He will later meet Premier Li Qiang.

Mr. Starmer, whose center-left Labor Party government has struggled to deliver the growth it promised, has made improving relations with the world’s second-largest economy a priority, despite lingering misgivings about espionage and human rights.

“China is a vital player on the global stage, and it’s vital that we build a more sophisticated relationship where we can identify opportunities to collaborate, but of course, also allow a meaningful dialogue on areas where we disagree,” Mr. Starmer told Mr. Xi at the start of their meeting.

Mr. Xi said ties with Britain had gone through “twists and turns” that did not serve the interests of either country and that China stood ready to develop a long-term strategic partnership.

“We can deliver a result that can withstand the test of history,” the Chinese leader said, flanked by his top ministers.

Mr. Starmer is the latest Western leader to engage in a flurry of diplomacy with China, as nations hedge against unpredictability from the United States under President Donald Trump.

Mr. Trump’s on-off threats of trade tariffs and pledges to grab control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, have rankled long-standing allies like Britain.

Mr. Starmer’s visit immediately follows that of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who signed an economic deal with Beijing to tear down trade barriers, drawing Mr. Trump’s ire.

Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese studies at King’s College London, said he expected a number of deals between Britain and China would be announced to show how their relationship has improved. Mr. Starmer is being accompanied by more than 50 business leaders, another signal that he is seeking economic wins.

TACKLING MIGRANT SMUGGLING GANGS
Mr. Starmer has adopted a new policy of engagement with China after ties deteriorated for years under previous Conservative governments, when London curbed some Chinese investment over national security worries and expressed concern over a crackdown on political freedoms in Hong Kong.

“I made the promise 18 months ago, when we were elected into government, that I would make Britain face outwards again,” Mr. Starmer told Mr. Xi.

“Because, as we all know, events abroad affect everything that happens back in our home countries, to prices on the supermarket shelves to how secure we feel.”

Kemi Badenoch, the leader of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party, said on Wednesday she would not have gone to China because of the security risks the country poses.

British security services have said China routinely spies on the government. China has denied the claims.

In a sign of how the countries can work together, Downing Street said Mr. Starmer and Mr. Xi would announce that Britain and China would jointly tackle gangs involved in trafficking illegal migrants.

The deal will focus on reducing the use of Chinese-made engines for small boats that transport people across Europe to claim asylum.

British and Chinese officials will share intelligence to identify smugglers’ supply routes and work with Chinese manufacturers to prevent legitimate businesses from being exploited by organized crime, Downing Street said.

Mr. Starmer told reporters on the airplane to China that he would “raise the issues that need to be raised” on human rights with Mr. Xi, when asked if he would bring up the case of Jimmy Lai, the former Hong Kong media tycoon and British citizen who was convicted in December of national security crimes.

After arriving late Wednesday, Mr. Starmer dined at a restaurant in the capital known for its mushroom-laden dishes that also hosted former US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during her 2023 visit.

He practiced pronouncing the Chinese word for thank you – ‘xie xie’ – with restaurant staff as he posed for photographs, a video posted on Weibo showed. — Reuters