In a boost to bilateral defence and strategic ties between the two countries, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday handed over to Vietnam 12 high-speed guard boats built under a 100 million dollar Line of Credit(LOC).
Rajnath handed over the Indian manufactured boats at a ceremony in the Hong Ha shipyard amid increasing maritime security cooperation between the two sides to deal with Beijing's increasing military assertiveness in the South China Sea region.
The Defence Minister is on a three-day visit to Vietnam from June 8 to 10. He said, "It gives me great pleasure to join this historic ceremony marking the successful completion of the project to build 12 high-speed guard boats under the USD 100 million defence Line of Credit by India."The initial five boats were manufactured at the Larsen and Toubro shipyard in India and the remaining seven were built in the Hong Ha shipyard.
"I am confident that this will be a precursor to many more cooperative defence projects between India and Vietnam," he said.
"This project is a glowing example of our 'Make in India -- Make for the World' mission," Rajnath said. The defence minister said India would be "greatly pleased" if "close friends like Vietnam" become part of the country's transformation in the defence manufacturing sector.
He said the successful completion of the project, notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic, is a reflection of the commitment and professional excellence of the Indian defence manufacturing sector as also the Hong Ha shipyard.
Rajnath said the Indian defence industry has substantially increased its capabilities under the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He stressed that the objective is to build a domestic industry in order to make India a defence manufacturing hub that not only caters to domestic needs but also fulfils international requirements.
India and Vietnam on Wednesday inked a vision document to further broad-base the "scope and scale" of defence ties by 2030 and sealed a logistics support pact to allow their militaries to use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies. The documents were signed after Rajnath and his Vietnamese counterpart General Phan Van Giang held parleys. Rajnath described the interaction "fruitful."
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on mutual logistics support is the first such major agreement that Vietnam has signed with any country.