Indian Navy chief in Vietnam for handing over of indigenous missile corvette today

NEW DELHI: In a move that will further strengthen India’s relationship with the East Asian region, Indian Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar will be in Vietnam for the handing over of the indigenous missile corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam on Saturday.

The missile corvette, INS Kirpan, is to be gifted to the Vietnamese Navy, at the Cam Ranh international port in the Southeast Asian nation today evening.

“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.

The INS Kirpan left on her final journey from India to Vietnam from Visakhapatnam on June 28.

The warship would be first decommissioned by the Indian Navy at the naval base there and then inducted by Vietnam.

The decision to gift the warship to Vietnam was announced last month during the visit of Vietnam Defence Minister Gen Phan Van Giang by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

This is the first time that a large-size in-service Corvette is being gifted to a friendly country by India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been stressing the ‘Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)’ policy.

INS Kirpan is an indigenously built Khukri class missile corvette that is equipped with weapons and sensors and has been fully operational in the Indian Navy.

Notably, Vietnam and India have had very good relations militarily in the past and have been working on military hardware cooperation.

India has also carried out a refit of the Kirpan in the recent past before gifting it to the Vietnamese Navy, and it has strong capabilities.