Why defence is a key component of India-Vietnam ties

India’s handing over the corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam signals just another step in the growing defence cooperation between New Delhi and Hanoi in the face of China’s hegemony in the South China Sea, writes ETV Bharat’s Aroonim Bhuyan.

New Delhi: In what is yet another boost to New Delhi’s defence cooperation with Southeast Asia, India has handed over INS Kirpan, a Khukri-class corvette, to the Vietnam Navy. It is the first active warship that India has ever gifted to a friendly country.

In fact, the transfer ceremony held on July 22 at Cam Ranh International Port in Vietnam was presided over by Adm. R. Hari Kumar, Chief of the Indian Navy, and Rear Adm. Pham Manh Hung, Deputy Commander-in-Chief and Chief of Staff, Vietnam People's Navy. This comes close on the heels of Vietnamese Defence Minister Gen. Phan Van Giang’s visit to India last month.

India and Vietnam signed a formal agreement for defence cooperation in 1994. Relations between the two countries were elevated to the level of ‘Strategic Partnership’ during the visit of then Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to India in July 2007. In 2016, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Vietnam, bilateral relations were further elevated to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’.

Then again, during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Vietnam in June last year, the two sides also signed the ‘Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030’, which will significantly enhance the scope and scale of existing defence cooperation. A Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Logistics Support was also inked in the presence of the Defence Ministers of the two countries.

“Vietnam is the key pillar of India’s Act East Policy,” Temjenmeren Ao, Associate Fellow in the Southeast Asia & Oceania Centre at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, told ETV Bharat. “This is because both countries face common challenges in security, both traditional and non-traditional. These include maritime security, piracy, terrorism and natural disasters and relief.”

Apart from the cooperation between the Ministries of Defence of the two sides, this engagement has diversified into wider military-to-military dialogue and exchanges, training programmes and bilateral exercises. Given China’s aggression in the South China Sea, maritime security has emerged as a critical area of cooperation between India and Vietnam.

China is locked in disputes over the Spratly and Paracel groups of islands in the South China Sea with other countries in the region. While the other claimants over the Spratly islands are Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan, the Paracel islands are also claimed by Vietnam.

China is also jittery about what former President Hu Jintao described as the "Malacca Dilemma". The Malacca Strait is a narrow stretch of water between Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra and serves as a crucial link to the South China Sea. The Chinese are worried that the strait, which is effectively under the US control, can be choked any time if trouble arises, cutting down energy supplies from the Middle East and Africa.

“Among the Southeast Asian nations, Vietnam has one of the strongest voices against China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea,” Ao said. While India and China are involved in a border conflict east of Ladakh, Hanoi and Beijing are also involved in a bilateral conflict over claims to the Paracel islands. Both India and Vietnam are directly affected by China’s territorial claims and activities.

Maritime cooperation enables them to collaborate, strengthen their positions, and collectively address disputes while upholding international law. By joining forces, India and Vietnam aim to counterbalance Chinese influence and maintain stability, security, freedom of navigation, and a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region.

Vietnam had earlier used a $100-million Indian defence line of credit (LoC) to buy 12 high-speed offshore patrol boats for its navy. India has also activated a satellite tracking and imaging centre in southern Vietnam that will give Hanoi access to pictures from Indian earth observation satellites that would cover China and the South China Sea.

During Rajnath Singh’s visit to Vietnam in 2022, the two sides also agreed for early finalisation of another $500 million defence LoC India had extended. Now, the handing over INS Kirpan is just another step in India-Vietnam defence cooperation to counter China’s hegemony in the region.