India gifted its in-service missile corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam in reflection of growing bilateral strategic and defence partnership.

It is for the first time that India handed over a fully operational corvette to any friendly foreign country.

INS Kirpan

• INS Kirpan was handed over to Vietnam after it was decommissioned from the Indian Navy after completing 32 years of illustrious service to the nation.

• INS Kirpan, since its commissioning in 1991, has been an integral part of the Navy’s Eastern Fleet and has participated in many operations over the last 32 years.

• Manned by about 12 officers and 100 sailors, the ship is 90 metres long and 10.45 metres in width with maximum displacement of 1,450 tonnes.

• INS Kirpan, an indigenously built Khukri-class missile corvette, was handed over to Vietnam in line with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s announcement last month that India will gift an in-service missile corvette to the country.

• The transfer of INS Kirpan from Indian Navy to Vietnam People’s Navy, symbolises the status of Indian Navy of being the ‘preferred security partner’ in the Indian Ocean Region.

India-Vietnam relations

• India and Vietnam share traditionally close and cordial bilateral relations. India was the chairman of the International Commission for Supervision and Control (ICSC) which was formed in pursuant of the Geneva Accord of 1954 to facilitate the peace process in Vietnam. 

• India initially maintained consulate-level relations with the then North and South Vietnam and later established full diplomatic relations with unified Vietnam on January 7, 1972. 

• Vietnam, an important country of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), has territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea region.

• India has oil exploration projects in the Vietnamese waters in the South China Sea. India and Vietnam are boosting their maritime security cooperation in the last few years to protect common interests.

• Vietnam is an important partner in India’s Act East policy and the Indo-Pacific vision.

• Bilateral defence engagements have expanded over a period of time to include wide-ranging contacts between the two countries, including through defence policy dialogues, military-to-military exchanges, high-level visits, capacity building and training programmes and cooperation in the UN peacekeeping and bilateral exercises.

• Relations between the two countries were elevated to the level of ‘Strategic  Partnership’ during the visit of Vietnam's then Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to India in July 2007.

• In 2016, during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Vietnam, bilateral relations were further elevated to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’. 

• From $200 million in the year 2000, bilateral trade between India and Vietnam has seen steady growth over the years. According to Indian statistics for Financial Year 2021-22, bilateral trade between India and Vietnam reached $14.14 billion. 

• Indian exports to Vietnam reached $6.70 billion while Indian imports from Vietnam amounted to $7.44 billion. 

• In FY 2021-22, for India, Vietnam was the 23rd largest trading partner globally and the fourth largest among ASEAN countries, following Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

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