Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has arrived in India on an official visit with security and defense cooperation high on the agenda.
This is Chinh’s first visit as head of the government and also the first visit by a Vietnamese prime minister to India in 10years.
Chinh is the second foreign leader, after Bangladesh prime minister Sheik Hasina, to visit Delhi since Narendra Modi began his third term as India’s prime minister.
Security and defense are two core “pillars” in Vietnam-India relations, said the office of Vietnam’s prime minister.
Delhi is one of Hanoi’s seven comprehensive strategic partners – the top tier of bilateral relations – on par with China, Russia and the United States.
Prime Minister Modi once said that Vietnam is an important pillar of India's Act East Policy.
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The two countries signed a Joint Vision Statement on a defense partnership, as well as a memorandum of understanding on mutual logistics support in June 2022 during a visit to Vietnam by India’s defense minister Rajnath Singh.
“Vietnam-India defense cooperation went back a long time,” said Yusuf Unjhawala, an Indian defense analyst.
India donated a domestically built missile corvette, INS Kirpan, to Vietnam in June 2023 and “also sold a number of smaller vessels to Hanoi,” Unjhawala told RFA, referring to high-speed guard boats built in both India and in Vietnam under an Indian credit scheme.
India’s naval vessels have been allowed to make port calls in Vietnam.
“Hopefully this can be elevated to another level with a mutual logistics agreement” to grant the Indian navy better access to Vietnam’s strategic port of Cam Ranh, he said.
Maritime cooperation
Both Vietnam and India are wary of China’s growing military might and assertiveness.
Maritime security is seen as one of the most important parts of Vietnam-India bilateral relations and they have held regular maritime security dialogues since 2019.Vietnam is embroiled in an intense territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea and is keen to upgrade its navy and boost its capabilities.
Vietnam is also looking to diversify its defense industry to end dependence on Soviet and Russian weaponry and India could provide a promising alternative, the Bangalore-based analyst Unjhawala said.
BrahMos Aerospace – a joint venture between India and Russia – is in talks to export its supersonic cruise missiles to Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
The company has begun delivering shore-based anti-ship missile systems to the Philippines under a US$375-million contract and Vietnam has indicated its interest in acquiring similar missiles, according to the defense intelligence company Janes.
RFA’s sources said Vietnam is also exploring possibilities to purchase India’s indigenous medium-range mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) Akash systems.
India has also provided a multi-million-dollar grant to develop an Army Software Park in Vietnam.
While it is unclear whether any arms contract would be signed during the Vietnamese prime minister's visit to India, it is almost certain that discussions are underway on strengthening security cooperation, analysts said.
Edited by Mike Firn.