South China Sea: India, Vietnam to conduct military ‘passing exercise’ in sign of closer ties
- Two-day drill, which comes after India donated 15 tonnes of humanitarian aid to victims of Vietnamese floods, is likely to be closely watched by Beijing, observers say
- Indian and Vietnamese leaders this week called for an ‘open and rules-based’ Indo-Pacific
Such manoeuvres are conducted between navies to ensure they are able to communicate and cooperate in times of war or humanitarian relief, though India provided few details of what this one would entail.
It said only that the exercise would take place on Saturday and Sunday, two days after the INS Kiltan – an Indian anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette – docked at Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday carrying 15 tonnes of humanitarian relief supplies for those affected by the floods in central parts of the country.
The passing exercise is a further sign of the warming defence ties between New Delhi and Hanoi, both of which have their individual differences and disagreements with Beijing.
On Wednesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, called for a peaceful, “open and rules-based” Indo-Pacific, while also proposing the two countries enhance their defence and security partnership.
And at a virtual summit on Monday, the two leaders agreed to increase military-to-military exchanges in the form of regular ship visits, joint exercises, and training and capacity building programmes across all three military services and their coastguards.