In Unprecedented Move, India Gifts Decommissioned Warship To Vietnam Taking China Head-On

Apart from confronting China under the ‘ASEAN Centrality’ aspect of the Indo-Pacific, the move is expected to open up Southeast Asian markets for India’s defence industry.

New Delhi: Taking China head-on, India last week gifted Vietnam a fully operational missile corvette, a small-sized warship, in an effort to assert its power in the region as part of its SAGAR initiative as well as to propagate the concept of ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific framework. This is the first time that India decommissioned an operational warship in order to hand it over Vietnam, which despite its close cooperation with Beijing, is also having a growing defence relationship with the US.

The corvette – INS Kirpan – was handed over to Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) last Saturday at Cam Ranh in Vietnam by Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of Naval Staff, Indian Navy, to Rear Admiral Pham Manh Hung, Deputy Commander-in-Chief and Chief of Staff, VPN.

"Today’s handing-over ceremony symbolises the deep-rooted friendship and strategic partnership between India and Vietnam. What makes this occasion even more significant is the fact that this is the first-ever occasion that India is offering a fully operational corvette to any friendly foreign country,” the Navy Chief said.

According to the Indian Navy, since INS Kirpan was commissioned in 1991, it has been an integral part of the Indian Navy’s eastern fleet and has participated in many operations over the last 32 years. 

The ship has been handed over today to Vietnam People’s Navy with a complete weapon complement. INS Kirpan is an indigenously built Khukri-class Missile Corvette.

According to official sources, the decision to handover the warship to Vietnam was finalised in May when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s met his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh in Hiroshima on the margins of the G7 meeting there, highly placed official sources told ABP Live.

"Vietnam is an important partner in India’s Act East Policy and the Indo-Pacific region, so this was a friendly gesture to give them a Corvette. India is also actively looking at the ASEAN market to grow its defence exports,” said a source, who did not wish to be named.

Both leaders had decided to take the India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to the next level by focussing more on the defence and security aspect of the ties.

Shekhar Sinha, former FOC-in-C, Western Naval Command and Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, told ABP Live that India and Vietnam “fully understand” the challenge being posed by China. He said even though Hanoi cannot openly spell out its issues with Beijing, it will depend on India for capacity building for its defence industry.

“We don’t just have political or diplomatic ties with Vietnam, we also have a sound defence relationship with them… We’ve been telling Vietnam that some of their islands are under Chinese control and we are here for capacity and capability building as well as for joint production. Like India they also believe in rules-based order and free and open sea lanes,” said Sinha.

He added: “We have told Vietnam that we are there for you. Now it depends on them how far they want to take the relationship with us in terms of buying equipment from us and strengthening their armed forces under the SAGAR framework.”

“It was important that this India shows magnanimity and handover the corvette to them. They know they are getting a reliable, high-quality and a proven platform from India. It gives a certain level of confidence,” Sinha said.

Decision To Gift Warship Was ‘Well-Planned’

According to the sources, the decision to hand over INS Kirpan to Vietnam was a well-planned and well thought out one. This move was also discussed with the US beforehand as Washington wants India to play a more “assertive role” and chalk out a “grand strategy” on what steps New Delhi plans to take to promote the ASEAN Centrality concept.

The Navy also said that transfer of INS Kirpan from the Indian Navy to the Vietnam People’s Navy reflects India’s commitment to assist its “like-minded partners in enhancing their capacity and capability” and is in consonance with India’s ‘Act East’ and ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR)’ foreign policy measures.

Post the meeting between both PM’s, Vietnam’s Minister of National Defence Gen Phan Van Giang came on a visit to India in June to meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and it was announced that INS Kirpan would be given to Hanoi.

According to Pooja Bhatt, Author, Nine Dash Line: Deciphering the South China Sea Conundrum, “Defence cooperation has come to be another pillar of cooperation in India’s cooperation with Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, amongst other pillars such as trade and economics, people-to-people connections and so on.”

“Keeping ASEAN Centrality in mind, the cooperation highlights that leveraging militaries and defence equipment has come a long way from creating war to promoting bilateral and multilateral relationships. The focus on defence diplomacy highlights the cooperation amongst these countries towards the entire spectrum of threat perception- traditional and non-traditional,” she added.

In June, Vietnam and China decided to “safeguard the common strategic interests” and “make positive contributions to regional peace and stability” after USS Ronal Reagan sailed into Da Nang Bay the same month. This was the third visit by a US aircraft carrier to Vietnam after 1975 when the war ended.