India to Build Armament Factories in Vietnam: Defence Minister Sitharaman

19 Juni 2018

Brahmos cruise missile (photo : Maritime Executive)

India wants to build armament factories in Vietnam to export to third countries, a military industry meeting heard Wednesday. The meeting was a part of a series of events organized on the occasion of Indian defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s visit to Vietnam.

Meeting with top Vietnamese leaders during her four-day visit that ends Friday, she said India-Vietnam military cooperation doesn’t stop at buying and transferring military technologies.

India looks to set up armament factories in Vietnam for export to third-party countries, she said. She also hoped that Vietnam would become a prime destination for Indian businesses, especially in defence and military sectors.

Major General Ho Quang Tuan, Vice Chairman of the General Department of Defense Industry from Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense, stressed that military cooperation was a cornerstone in the strategic partnership between Vietnam and India.

He also said the two countries were having “open, direct” dialogue regarding military technologies and weaponry.

Vietnam is strengthening its military cooperation with India as part of its “peaceful” defence policy, foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang had said at a press briefing last year.

She was responding to an inquiry about India’s offers to sell a batch of short-range ramjet supersonic cruise missiles, BrahMos, to Vietnam.

Hang said the procurement of defence equipment “was consistent with the policy of peace and self-defence and “normal practice.”

“The bilateral security and defence ties have been making practical contributions to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world at large,” she said.

India has already supplied patrol vessels to Vietnam and has been providing military training. The BrahMos missiles deal, once finalized, would be the first arms trade deal between the two countries.

(The Kootneti)