India and Vietnam announce measures to boost defence cooperation

The Defence Minister AK Antony, who is on a three day visit to Vietnam, announced at the meeting with his counterpart General Phung Quang Thanh in Hanoi today that India will transfer 5000 naval spares belonging to Petya class of ship to Vietnam to make many of the ageing ships operational.

New Delhi, Dec 17 : The Defence Minister AK Antony, who is on a three day visit to Vietnam, announced at the meeting with his counterpart General Phung Quang Thanh in Hanoi today that India will transfer 5000 naval spares belonging to Petya class of ship to Vietnam to make many of the ageing ships operational.

The two sides agreed to set up a Joint Working Group to facilitate the signing of MOU on defence cooperation.

He said the measures taken today 'will open a new chapter in defence cooperation between the two countries that will take the strategic partnership ahead'.

He highlighted the traditionally close and cordial relations between India and Vietnam, the foundations for which were laid by Jawaharlal Nehru and President Ho Chi Minh in their very first meeting in Hanoi 50 years ago.

He said the commonality of views of the two countries in many areas is a reflection of their shared strategic interests.

Antony congratulated Vietnam on being elected as non-permanent member of UN Security Council for a period of two years and said, "New Delhi attaches tremendous importance to the Strategic Partnership forged between the two Prime Ministers in July this year."

He also announced the deputation of a four member team to impart training on UN Peace Keeping Operations in the first half of next year.

General Thanh in his remarks put forward various proposals including training of Vietnamese Defence Personnel, enhancing the exchanges of delegations, expanding training cooperation and cooperation between the defence industries of the two countries.

He also suggested increase in the frequency of goodwill visits by naval ships, application of information technology in defence and e- technology and technical support to Vietnamese navy.

He, thanked India for providing training to their armed forces officers in various areas and said, "They are bringing back valuable knowledge and skills to their work areas".

So far, a total of 49 Vietnamese officers have attended various Army and Navy Courses and 64 officers have attended English language courses.

The Indo-Vietnamese bilateral relationship got a boost in 1994 with the signing of the Protocol on Defence cooperation. It reached a new high in July 2007, when the two countries agreed on 'Strategic Partnership' during the visit of the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to India.

Last month, the third India-Vietnam Security Dialogue was held in New Delhi and a number of decisions were taken by both sides to provide further impetus to bilateral relations.

ANI