With Brahmos And Other Defence Exports On Agenda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh To Visit Vietnam Next Week

Defence exports and collaboration for training and maintenance of defence equipment will top the agenda during Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Vietnam in the second week of January.

The official reason behind the Defence Minister’s tour is to celebrate the golden jubilee of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Both India and Vietnam use the Soviet and Russian manufactured defence equipment, the latter also holds interest in purchasing the Brahmos missile that is jointly developed by New Delhi and Moscow.

Following a meeting between Defence Minister Singh and his Vietnamese counterpart Sr Lt Gen Phan Van Giang last year, the two countries had agreed upon furthering their cooperation in defence industry and technology.

This visit will be Singh’s first to South East Asia ever since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The growing Chinese aggression in the ASEAN region will continue to be in the backdrop of this meeting.

India and Vietnam had agreed upon a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in 2016 and New Delhi has also extended a $100 million defence line of credit to Hanoi, The Economic Times reports.