On June 19, 2023, India gifted an indigenously built-in service missile corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam so as to strengthen the Vietnamese Navy. The development came after the Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh, announced and held bilateral talks with his Vietnamese counterpart General Phan Van Gang, who came to India on June 18, 2023.
According to a Defence Ministry Statement, “Progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives was reviewed during the meeting, with both sides expressing satisfaction at the ongoing engagements. The two ministers had focused on enhancing cooperation between the defence industries of both countries and maritime security.”
As per the Ministry, both ministers identified means to enhance and specify a focus on the existing areas of collaboration, especially in the defence industry cooperation, maritime cooperation and multinational cooperation. As part of the engagements, General Phan also visited the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) headquarters
Moreover, the duo discussed ways to enhance “defence industrial capabilities by cooperation in defence research and joint production.” Earlier the same day, General Gang had laid a wreath on the National War Memorial and was given a Tri-Service Guard of Honour.
The INS Kirpan, which belongs to the Khukri Class corvette displacing 1350 tonnes, was kept by the Indian Navy on January 12, 1991. It has a displacement of close to 1400 tonnes, a length of ninety-one meters, a beam of eleven meters, and a top speed of 25knots.
It is fitted with a medium-range gun, 30mm close-range guns, chaff launchers, and surface-to-surface missiles, making it multi-functional. It can undertake coastal and service patrol, coastal security, surface warfare, anti-piracy and HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) operations, according to the Indian Navy.
Hanoi has procured 12 high-speed patrol boats for the Vietnamese Border Guard force under $100 million Line of Credit (LOC) extended in September 2014, In 2016, India extended another $100 million Line of Credit, and discussions are underway to identify the equipment.
India has also announced gifting two simulators and a monetary grant towards the setting up of a Language and IT lab at the Air Force Officers Training School for capacity building in the Vietnamese armed forces.
India and Vietnam have a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership since 2016, and defence cooperation is a key pillar of the partnership. As per the Look East Policy and Act East Policy and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Southeast Asian Region is highly crucial for India.
After the USSR disintegrated in 1991, India lost its major partner and support, which it had enjoyed since the signing of the Indo-Soviet Friendship Treaty in 1971. It led to a payment crisis. The region of Southeast Asia was a thriving economic region of which Vietnam is an integral part. The Look East Policy was devised by PV Narasimha Rao in 1991.
Its successor policy, the Act East Policy (2014), also focuses on South East Asia. But the impetus and extra assertion was on developing the Northeast Indian Region, considered a gateway to Southeast Asia. This policy was the brainchild of PM Narendra Modi.
South East Asia is also central to the concept of the Indo-Pacific, even to India’s perception of the Indo-Pacific Region. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a common adversary of Vietnam and India, especially in the South China Sea Theatre.
It has disputes with Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei. India has provided strategic military support to the countries of South East Asia, which are militarily weaker as compared to China in terms of economic power, military might, hegemony etc.
India’s military support to Vietnam and other ASEAN nations can also be seen as a “Balance of Power” technique that is critical to the domain of International Relations and World Politics.
Similarly, India has signed a deal with the Philippines regarding the export of the BrahMos missile, one of its most potent indigenously built missile platforms. The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA-Tejas) is an indigenously built aircraft designed to replace the ageing MiG-21 Bison of the Indian Air Force was signed by Malaysia.
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