India hands over 12 high-speed guard boats to Vietnam

Hanoi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday handed over 12 high-speed guard boats for Vietnam Border Guard at Hong Ha Shipyard made under USD 100 million lines of credit by the Indian government.

Five out of 12 boats were manufactured at the L&T Shipyard in India while seven were made at the Hong Ha Shipyard. The ceremony was held during the defence minister’s three-day official visit to Vietnam.

Speaking at the event, the Indian defence minister said this project is a glowing example of our ‘Make in India-Make for the World’ mission.

“We would be greatly pleased if close friends like Vietnam become part of our Defence Industries transformation through enhanced Defence Industry cooperation,” Rajnath Singh said in a tweet.

“I’m confident that this will be a precursor to many more cooperative defence projects between India and Vietnam,” he added.

India and Vietnam on Wednesday signed a “Joint Vision Statement” for Defence Partnership towards the year 2030 to enhance the scope and scale of defence cooperation between the countries.

This key vision statement was signed after the Defence Minister’s meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart General Phan Van Giang.

Wide-ranging discussions on effective and practical initiatives to further expand bilateral defence engagements and regional and global issues were also held between the two sides.

The two Ministers also exchanged views on regional and global issues of shared interest.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed on Mutual Logistics Support to help enhance engagements between the defence forces of the two countries.

Rajnath Singh also met the Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, during which he described Vietnam as a key partner in the Indo-Pacific vision.

He appraised the Vietnamese president on initiatives to further strengthen the bilateral Defence relations between India and Vietnam.