New Delhi: As India and Vietnam eye to enhance their bilateral defence cooperation, reports say that New Delhi is stepping up its efforts to sell supersonic BrahMos missile to the Communist country. The move is obviously seen as a response to neighbour China's rising military muscle-flexing in the region.
The possible sale of Brahmos to the Southeast Asian country also figured during the bilateral talks between Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his Vietnamese counterpart General Ngo Xuan Lich earlier this week.
During the talks, PTI reported that Hanoi had expressed interest to acquire Indian-made BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, a deal for which India is open to.
The deal, if confirmed, will make Vietnam the first country to be supplied the 290 km-range BrahMos weapon system, a joint venture of India and Russia.
In 2011, Vietnam had sought to buy the supersonic missile from India but New Delhi was reluctant to sell fearing China. However, things changed in 2014 after Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister and India slowly consolidated its ties with the US both economically and militarily.
Reports also say that the any such deal between India and Vietnam may change the dynamics in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. Vietnam is one of the six countries along with China which dispute each other's territorial limits at sea. India has interests in freedom of navigation for cargo carrying ships through the waters and oil exploration blocks.
India, currently the world's largest arms importer, is also eyeing countries such as Indonesia, South Africa, Chile and Brazil to sell the advanced cruise missile system. The cruise missile are considered as the world's fastest that can travel at a speed that is more than three times the speed of sound.
Brahmos missiles are manufactured by BrahMos Aerospace, an Indo-Russian joint venture.
Vietnam, which is building a naval deterrent to China with Russian-made Kilo-class submarines, is also keen on India training its submarine personnel.
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