The handover ceremony of the non-refundable grant from India to the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence for the establishment of the Information Technology System of the Army Software Park in August 2021 (Photo: VNA)
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to pay tribute to President Ho Chi Minh, greet State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and hold talks with his counterpart Phan Van Giang.
At the talks, the two ministers will review the defence cooperation relationship between the two countries over the past time, and discuss new initiatives to strengthen connectivity in this field.
The two sides will also exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual concern.
Also within the framework of the visit, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit the Hong Ha shipbuilding plant in Hai Phong, and chair the handover ceremony of 12 high-speed patrol boats - part of a defence credit package worth USD100 million of the Government of India for Vietnam.
This project is of great significance in the context of growing defence industry cooperation between India and Vietnam, and an expression of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision: "Self-reliant India" and “Make in India - Make for World”.
Minister Rajnath Singh will visit the University of Communications in Nha Trang, which is building the Army Software Park with a grant of USD 5 million from the Government of India.
In December 2020, Vietnam and India signed a cooperation agreement to build an Army Software Park and in August 2021, the Indian Embassy held a ceremony to hand over a check worth USD1 million to the Ministry of National Defence of Vietnam to implement this project.
This was a symbol of Vietnam-India defence relations in modern times, playing an important role in foreign language and information technology training for the Vietnamese defence force.
India and Vietnam established a Strategic Partnership in 2007 and upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016, and defence cooperation is the main pillar of this partnership.
For India, Vietnam is an important partner in the Act East policy and Indo-Pacific vision.
Bilateral defence commitments have been expanded to include wide-ranging contacts, defence policy dialogues, military exchanges, high-level visits, training and capacity building programs, cooperation in UN peacekeeping operations, visits by naval ships of the two countries and bilateral exercises.
In an interview with the press, Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau emphasized that in the fields of cooperation between Vietnam and India, defence cooperation has made an important mark, especially the navy. Navy ships of the two countries regularly visit each other and actively participate in each other's activities.
When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in Ho Chi Minh City, the first ship from abroad to carry medicine and oxygen for the Vietnamese people was the Indian navy ship. According to Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau, the two countries' naval cooperation also covers many areas such as staff training and support for each other in the field.
The visit of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of India-Vietnam diplomatic relations (1972-2022) and the 75th anniversary of India's independence (1947-2022) will further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership, of which defence cooperation is an important pillar./.