New Delhi, June 11 (Hindustan Times). To answer China-Pakistan, the friendship between India and Vietnam is also getting stronger. The defense ties between India and Vietnam are getting stronger amid the growing Dragon’s hegemony in the South China Sea. After the Philippines, now the BrahMos missiles deal with Vietnam is nearing finalisation. The potential deal is expected to be signed with Vietnam’s Defense Minister Phan Van Giang, who is visiting India on June 19.
Developed jointly by India and Russia, BrahMos is based on the most advanced missile system ever. The Russian government has given permission to export the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos to a third country. After this, many countries including Philippines, Vietnam, Egypt, Indonesia and Oman have shown great interest in buying BrahMos missiles. The Philippines last year signed the biggest and first overseas deal with India to buy supersonic BrahMos missiles worth over $374 million. The permission to export BrahMos from Russia has come at a time when India’s friendship with China’s neighboring country Vietnam is getting darker.
As a result, the BrahMos missile deal with Vietnam is nearing finalisation, indicating the deepening of defense cooperation between the two countries. Sources said Vietnam is expected to order between three to five units of BrahMos missiles. The multiple missiles included with each battery are estimated to cost around $125 million, so a potential deal could be between $375 million and $625 million. It depends on how many units of BrahMos Vietnam wants to acquire.
Vietnam’s Defense Minister Phan Van Giang is scheduled to visit New Delhi on June 19 in which the potential deal is expected to be signed. In fact, amid the ongoing tussle with China, Vietnam wants to take BrahMos missiles from India and deploy them in the South China Sea. This will reduce the fear of China in the South China Sea and its surrounding area and at the same time strengthen India’s relations with Vietnam. Meanwhile, China has threatened India’s security by giving many types of sensitive weapons to India’s neighboring countries-Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar etc., but now India has also adopted the policy of ‘like a tit’ by giving BrahMos to China’s enemy countries. Lee is
