India, Vietnam looking at joint production of military hardware

India and Vietnam on Tuesday underlined the importance of maintaining peace, stability, and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region and resolved to work closely to jointly produce military hardware in line with their ''enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership''.

Expanding defence ties was the central focus of the meeting between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Vietnamese counterpart, General Phan Van Giang. The meeting took place in Hanoi.

''Both the ministers reviewed the growing defence partnership between the two countries and discussed ways to further deepen cooperation in maritime security, defence industry, training and regional stability,'' the defence ministry said.

Sources said defence industrial cooperation for joint production of military hardware was one of the key areas of the Singh-Giang meeting.

It is also learnt that Vietnam has shown keen interest in procuring BrahMos missiles from India.

Singh landed in the Vietnamese capital on Monday on a two-day visit.

Following the talks, India and Vietnam signed an agreement for cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence and quantum technology.

The defence minister's visit to Hanoi came days after India and Vietnam elevated their ties to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership.

''The two sides exchanged views on regional and global security developments of mutual interest and emphasised the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region,'' the ministry said on the Singh-Giang meeting.

''They discussed avenues to expand cooperation in areas including military training, defence industry collaboration, maritime security, capacity building, UN peacekeeping, cyber security and high-level exchanges,'' it said.

In the meeting, Gen Giang appreciated India's continued support and underscored the long-standing friendship and growing strategic partnership between the two nations.

The two defence ministers virtually inaugurated a language lab at Air Force Officers' College in Vietnam. This lab has been established with Indian assistance. Singh also announced a decision to set-up of an artificial intelligence lab at Telecommunications University in Nha Trang.

The defence minister also called on Vietnamese President To Lam and conveyed warm greetings to him from President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the meeting, Singh reiterated India's commitment to further deepening bilateral cooperation across diverse sectors, including defence and security, trade and investment, maritime cooperation, connectivity, digital transformation and people-to-people exchanges.

The Vietnamese President appreciated the growing India-Vietnam bilateral engagement and acknowledged India's role as a key partner in his country's development and strategic priorities.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)