India and Vietnam co-operation in SCS

[Shinigami]

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old news. wonder why no one posted it

Vietnam Helps India

India and Vietnam have embarked upon a mission to strengthen their naval ties and establish a sustainable maritime presence as Indian naval warships have been granted permission to drop anchor at the Nha Trang port in southern Vietnam. Vietnam’s Navy Chief and deputy minister Vice Admiral Nguyen Van Hien is also on a visit to India to discuss the security challenges in the region and expand the scope of defence cooperation.

The recent move to allow the Indian Navy to drop anchor at the south Vietnamese port assumes significance due to the fact that the Indian Navy is the only foreign navy in the world to have been granted such a privilege at a port other than Halong Bay near Hanoi. This will facilitate the presence of Indian Navy in the South China Sea and enable a greater strategic role in Southeast Asia. India and Vietnam are wary of growing Chinese military capabilities as well as their increasing presence in the region.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has been trying to make its presence felt in the world and augment its defence capabilities. The current visit by the Vietnamese Naval Chief to India aims to increase defence ties with India while India is also keen to offer naval facilities for training and capacity-building to Vietnam. The Vietnamese Naval Chief is scheduled to meet Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik and Army Chief General V.K. Singh, as part of his bilateral talks.

The Vietnamese Naval Chief Nguyen Van Hien plans to witness the naval capabilities of India. The Vietnamese Naval Chief has already completed his visit to Mumbai, where he visited the Indian Navy’s Western Command and defence public sector shipbuilder Mazagon Dock Limited before reaching New Delhi. He will also go to Visakhapatnam where he will visit the newly-acquired defence public sector shipbuilder Hindustan Shipyard Limited, apart from visiting naval formations.

It is felt that India could also offer its experience in ship-building to Vietnam, which currently has a small Navy. The Vietnamese Navy Chief has also assessed the Indian warship building capacities and functioning of the defence shipyards in the country.

According to defence analysts, India’s defence cooperation with Vietnam may largely be misconstrued as a counter-strategy to the growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean. However, with China’s "String of Pearls” strategy by engaging in maritime cooperation with Burma, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, it is only obvious that India would want its footprint in South China sea and south east Asia in general. India is also boosting its defence capabilities at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located close to Southeast Asia.

Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian

According to a report in the Financial Times yesterday, the Indian naval vessel INS Airavat was confronted in international waters by a Chinese ship demanding that the Indians explain their presence.

The incident brings into the open India's strategic ambitions in Southeast Asia and, it appears, China's displeasure.

The South China Sea is now widely seen as one of the region's key strategic flashpoints. China's territorial claim over most of the South China Sea has brought it into dispute with five other countries in the region.

The dispute has now come to symbolise China's resurgence as a major military power and its potential to destabilise the whole Asia-Pacific.


The recent launch of China's first aircraft carrier has brought fears about the expansion of China's naval power to the fore. Robert Kaplan, a leading American strategist, has predicted that the South China Sea will be the "military front line" of China in coming decades.
For many years, the South China Sea dispute largely only involved China and ASEAN states. Vietnam, with its long coastline and its tangled history with China, has often been at the forefront of the dispute.

Tensions between them have been increasing and some believe that there is now a high chance of conflict over the issue. Last year the Chinese upped the ante, reportedly stating that the South China Sea is a "core national interest" on par with its claims to Tibet and Taiwan.

This has led the US to take a more active role in the dispute, siding with ASEAN and defending its right to freely use this vital trading route. A US aircraft carrier made a highly symbolic visit to Vietnam in a pointed response to China's claims.

One of the most significant recent developments is an announcement that India is working with Vietnam to establish a regular Indian naval presence in the region.

India has long had a special relationship with Vietnam. For many decades, India supported Hanoi's fight against the domination of Indochina by outside powers.

During the Cold War, both India and Vietnam fought bitter wars against China and both ultimately aligned themselves with the Soviet Union, largely out of their fear of China.

Over the last decade or so India has been trying to develop a broad security partnership with Vietnam, offering to supply advanced weapons, including anti-ship missiles, and training for its navy and air force. It seems this partnership may now be coming to fruition.

In recent weeks, Vietnam has agreed to give India rights to use the small port of Nha Trang and the Indian navy's INS Airavat was the first ship to visit under the new arrangement.

The Vietnamese made great symbolic use of the occasion, inviting the visiting Indians to lay flowers at the statue of a famous Vietnamese commander who had led his country to victory over a Chinese fleet in 1288. It is not yet clear to what extent the Indian navy intends to establish permanent facilities to support what it calls a "sustainable presence".

Nevertheless the agreement represents an important signal to China by both Vietnam and India. This point has not been lost on the Chinese, who confronted the Indian ship after it left Nha Trang.

The use of the port of Nha Trang, located very close to Cam Ranh Bay in southern Vietnam, was no coincidence. For some strategists, Vietnam's naval base at Cam Ranh Bay represents a key factor in the military balance of the region.

Known as one of the finest harbours in Southeast Asia, Cam Ranh Bay was developed as a huge military base by the US during the Vietnam War. It was then used by the Russians until 2002.

Since the early 1990s the Indian navy has sought basing rights at Cam Ranh Bay, without success.

Vietnam has long understood that allowing a foreign naval presence at Cam Ranh Bay is its strategic trump card in the South China Sea dispute.

Vietnam is now signalling a willingness to play that card against China.

What are India's interests in the South China Sea? Like the US, India has a keen interest in the security of the trading routes that cross the South China Sea to Northeast Asia and the US.

In coming years, India will also increasingly rely on oil supplies from Russia's Pacific coast.

But India's strategic interests in Indochina go far beyond this. Some in New Delhi see benefit in a security alliance with Vietnam against China, just as China has long supported Pakistan against India. Others argue that India should build a naval presence in the South China Sea in response to China's perceived intrusions into the Indian Ocean. The debate in New Delhi is far from over.

However, the development of a security role in the South China Sea certainly represents an opportunity for India to demonstrate its credentials as an Asia-Pacific power.

The US has been pressing India to take a more active role in the Asia-Pacific for years.

It is not clear where this will all lead. If India acts carefully, the development of a small Indian naval presence in the South China Sea might bolster its claim to be an Asia-Pacific power without provoking too great a reaction from China.

But the appearance of the Indian navy in China's backyard could also lead China into upping the ante in both the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Strategic rivalry between India and China in the Indian and Pacific oceans is something that Australia is keen to avoid. It seems India has entered some uncharted waters.

David Brewster is a visiting fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU. He is the author of India as an Asia Pacific Power

[DF-41 ICBM]

indian thieves, what is with india and stealing other people's land.

india is becoming the next america, a hegemonic regime that interferes in other people's internal affairs.
cant these indians learn to live in peace, all they want is war, death and destruction.

no wonder countries like sri lanka, bangladesh, pakistan are moving closer to china.

[Shinigami]

indian thieves, what is with india and stealing other people's land.

india is becoming the next america, a hegemonic regime that interferes in other people's internal affairs.
cant these indians learn to live in peace, all they want is war, death and destruction.

no wonder countries like sri lanka, bangladesh, pakistan are moving closer to china.

sometimes i wonder if you people even know the meaning of the word 'IQ'

[Facebooks]

indian thieves, what is with india and stealing other people's land.

india is becoming the next america, a hegemonic regime that interferes in other people's internal affairs.
cant these indians learn to live in peace, all they want is war, death and destruction.

no wonder countries like sri lanka, bangladesh, pakistan are moving closer to china.

Is WS-10 Engine and China Hyperpower Banned?

[EastSea]

India and Vietnam have embarked upon a mission to strengthen their naval ties and establish a sustainable maritime presence as Indian naval warships have been granted permission to drop anchor at the Nha Trang port in southern Vietnam.

My home town, bro.

[Facebooks]

India and Vietnam have embarked upon a mission to strengthen their naval ties and establish a sustainable maritime presence as Indian naval warships have been granted permission to drop anchor at the Nha Trang port in southern Vietnam.

My home town, bro.

Does it have any Docks?

[Supply&Demand]

indian thieves, what is with india and stealing other people's land.

india is becoming the next america, a hegemonic regime that interferes in other people's internal affairs.
cant these indians learn to live in peace, all they want is war, death and destruction.

no wonder countries like sri lanka, bangladesh, pakistan are moving closer to china.

And also do u wonder why Phillipines, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Taiwan are moving closer to US??

[CorporateAffairs]

indian thieves, what is with india and stealing other people's land.

If I would've said, chinese thieves, I would been banned by now

no wonder countries like sri lanka, bangladesh, pakistan are moving closer to china.

They dont know theiy're getting closer to "death hug"

[Shardul.....the lion]

Is WS-10 Engine and China Hyperpower Banned?

I think 1962spanking is also banned. May all of these are same person.

I think Vietnam should be offered all possible help from India and also Russia should be requested to offer all the military hardware to Vietnam at discounted rate.

[Android]

Guys get ready for a few last warnings

[Fasih Khan]

Indians seriously are asking for it. I hope China realizes it earliest possible on the state level and fix what needs to be fixed here.

[humanfirst]

indian thieves, what is with india and stealing other people's land.

That red line is the area claimed by china...Even a casual look at that map will reveal who is the greedy party in south china sea..


btw we are just exploring oil in vietnamese territorial waters.Not stealing "land"..lol

[Fasih Khan]

does warning by pakistanis on behalf of chinese count?

It DOES If you really think deep !!!

[rcrmj]

Indians seriously are asking for it. I hope China realizes it earliest possible on the state level and fix what needs to be fixed here.

friend you dont need to worry about that, the loudest are always the first to fall..besides its not in the disputed areas, they just want to make some noises in SCS

[Battle of Bach Dang River]

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Indians seriously are asking for it. I hope China realizes it earliest possible on the state level and fix what needs to be fixed here.

If China does not "claim" the territorial waters of other countries, would be nothing serious here.
I think China should fix her thoughts first, then she helps you to fix your thoughts.