India gifts INS Kirpan to Vietnam, focuses on enhancing defence relations, security

Source: The post is based on the article “India gifts INS Kirpan to Vietnam, focuses on enhancing defence relations, security” published in The Hindu on 20th June 2023

What is the News?

India’s Defence Minister and his Vietnamese counterpart have agreed to enhance industry cooperation and maritime security, given China’s dominance in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region.

What are the key highlights from the India and Vietnam Defence Ministers meeting?

India gifted INS Kirpan to Vietnam: India has gifted the indigenously-built in-service missile corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam to enhance its naval capabilities.

– INS Kirpan is a Khukri class missile corvette displacing 1,350 tonnes and was commissioned into the Navy in 1991. 

– It has a displacement of close to 1,400 tonnes, a length of 91 metres, a beam of 11 metres and is capable of speed in excess of 25 knots. 

– The ship is fitted with a medium-range gun, 30 mm close-range guns, chaff launchers and surface-to-surface missiles.

Vietnam shows interest in Brahmos: Vietnam has shown interest in BrahMos supersonic cruise missile to augment its air defence systems and the talks are in early stages. 

Note: During the 2022 visit of India’s Defence Minister to Vietnam, India handed over to Vietnam 12 high-speed guard boats built under a $100 million Line of Credit granted to it by India.