Indian Navy Chief To Hand Over Indigenous Missile Corvette INS Kirpan To Vietnam Today

Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar will be in Vietnam on Saturday for the handing over of an indigenous missile corvette INS Kirpan to their navy.

Admiral R Hari Kumar to hand over INS Kirpan to Vietnam.

Source : PTI

Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar will on Saturday hand over the indigenous missile corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam with an aim to strengthen the relationship with the East Asian region, reported ANI. Kumar will be in Vietnam for the handing over of INS Kirpan to the navy of the South Asian nation in the evening, ANI added. INS Kirpan is an indigenously built Khukri class missile corvette, as per ANI. The warship is equipped with weapons and sensors. The handing over will take place at the Cam Ranh international port in Vietnam.

"Strengthening the country’s partnership with Southeast Asian countries, Indian Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar will be part of the handing over ceremony for the INS Kirpan to Vietnam today," Indian Navy officials told ANI.

Notably, INS Kirpan left for Vietnam from Visakhapatnam on June 28. As per the report, INS Kirpan will be first decommissioned by the Indian Navy at the naval base in Vietnam and then would be inducted by the Vietnamese Navy.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced the gifting of the warship to Vietnam last month during the visit of Vietnamese Defence Minister Gen Phan Van Giang, reported ANI.

ANI mentioned that this will be the first instance when a large-size in-service Corvette is being gifted to a friendly country by India. 

During the visit of Vietnam's Defence Minister, both sides reviewed their progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives. Officials from both countries expressed their satisfaction with the ongoing engagements.

An official release by the Ministry of Defence said, “Both ministers identified means to enhance existing areas of collaboration, especially in the field of defence industry cooperation, maritime security and multinational cooperation.”

The two nations have been putting special emphasis on boosting defence ties and reviewing the situation in the South China Sea. Notably, the South China Sea region has witnessed growing Chinese assertiveness in the recent past.

Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan was among the officials who attended the bilateral talks.

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