Hanoi, June 7 (FN Agency) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday arrived at Hanoi, ahead of his three-day official visit to Vietnam. The Minister will hand over 12 High Speed Guard Boats constructed under the Government of India’s 100 million dollar Defence Line of Credit to Vietnam. He was welcomed at the airport by Ambassador of India to Vietnam Pranay Verma and senior officers of Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence. The Minister is visiting Vietnam at the invitation of the country’s Minister of National Defence Gen Phan Van Giang. He is set to pay respects to late President Ho Chi Minh at his Mausoleum in Hanoi.
India’s handing over of the High Speed Guard Boats to Vietnam at the Hong Ha Shipyard in Hai Phong is taking place amid reports of Chinese naval vessels moving close to oil rigs in the South China Sea, being jointly developed by India and Vietnam. This project is significant in the context of the growing defence industry cooperation with Vietnam and exemplifies Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India, Make for the World, Defence Ministry said. The Minister will hold bilateral talks with Gen Phan Van Giang, during which both the Ministers will review defence cooperation between the two countries and explore new initiatives to further strengthen the defence engagements.
The two Ministers will also exchange views on regional and global issues of shared interest, the Defence Ministry said. Rajnath is also scheduled to call on President of Vietnam, Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. During the visit, Rajnath will also visit the training institutions of Vietnam at Nha Trang, including the Telecommunication University, where an Army Software Park is being established with five million dollars grant from the Government of India.
The Defence Minister will also attend a community event organised by the Embassy of India in Hanoi and interact with the Indian diaspora in Vietnam. India and Vietnam share a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership since 2016 and defence cooperation is a key pillar of this partnership. Vietnam is an important partner in India’s Act East policy and the Indo-Pacific vision. Bilateral defence engagements have expanded over a period of time to include wide-ranging contacts between the two countries, including defence policy dialogues, military-to-military exchanges, high-level visits, capacity building and training programmes, cooperation in UN Peace Keeping, ship visits and bilateral exercises. The Defence Minister’s visit on the historic occasion of 50 years of establishment of India-Vietnam Diplomatic relations and 75 years of India’s Independence will further consolidate the bilateral defence cooperation and the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The Quad countries (India, Australia, Japan, and the United States), in their meeting last month in Tokyo, decided to intensify ties with 10 ASEAN countries and Vietnam is an ASEAN country.