India and Vietnam have announced plans to search for oil and gas in the South China Sea, risking new tensions with China.

India and Vietnam signed the deal Wednesday during Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang’s visit to New Delhi. It calls for cooperation between India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and PetroVietnam to increase oil and gas exploration and production.

China has criticized talk of new Indian-Vietnamese ventures in the South China Sea, particularly near a series of islands that China claims as its own. Vietnam says Chinese naval vessels interfered with oil and gas exploration in the area on at least two occasions in recent months.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese and Chinese officials meeting in Beijing on Wednesday said they signed an agreement on the need to settle disputes over the South China Sea through negotiations. Officials say the deal calls for twice-yearly bilateral meetings.

India, like China, is seeking additional resources to help fuel its growing economy, as well as new opportunities for trade.

Following a meeting Wednesday between Vietnamese President Sang and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the sides announced plans to increase trade to $7 billion by 2015.

Trade between India and Vietnam reached more than $2.7 billion in 2010 and more than $1.8 billion during the first six months of this year.

India and Vietnam also signed deals to increase cooperation in science and technology, information and communications.