India, Vietnam reaffirm strategic partnership as both countries’ air force chiefs meet in Hanoi
ACM AP Singh during his interaction with officers of Vietnam’s Regiment 927, 371 Air Division. (Photo: X/@AmbHanoi)
New Delhi: India and Vietnam have reaffirmed their determination to deepen defence cooperation, with the two countries’ air forces emerging as the primary vehicle for that push. The reaffirmation came on Wednesday when the chief of the air staff, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, called on General Nguyen Tan Cuong, chief of the general staff of the Vietnam People’s Army and deputy minister of national defence, in Hanoi.
The meeting formed part of ACM Singh’s ongoing official visit to Vietnam. According to a statement posted by the Indian embassy in Hanoi, the two sides reviewed positive developments in bilateral defence cooperation, with particular emphasis on strengthening ties between the two air forces, building capacity, and expanding professional exchange programmes.
The two military leaders also exchanged views on regional and international security matters of shared concern, though neither side detailed specifics publicly. The embassy said the discussion reaffirmed both countries’ commitment to deepening cooperation within the framework of the Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the upgraded status the relationship acquired after years of steady diplomatic elevation.
ACM Singh’s itinerary through the week has carried symbolic as well as substantive weight. On Tuesday, he paid tribute at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the final resting place of Vietnam’s founding leader, before travelling to Regiment 927 of the 371 Air Division of the Vietnam People’s Air Force. There, he met unit leadership and spoke directly with fighter pilots to understand the regiment’s operational role and training methods.
As RNA Media reported, the three-day visit began Monday. On arrival in Hanoi, ACM Singh was received by the Indian ambassador to Vietnam, Tshering W Sherpa, who briefed him on the state of bilateral relations. He was then accorded a ceremonial welcome by the Air Defence-Air Force Service of the Vietnam People’s Army, followed by bilateral talks with Lieutenant General Vu Hong Son, commander of that service, during which both sides reviewed ongoing cooperation and discussed new directions for collaboration.
This visit builds on a defence relationship with genuine institutional depth. India and Vietnam signed their first defence cooperation agreement in March 2000, under which New Delhi overhauled Hanoi’s fleet of MiG-21 aircraft and trained Vietnamese fighter pilots and technicians, with spare-parts support continuing through 2006. The Indian Navy has since gone on to train Vietnamese naval personnel in operating Russian-origin Kilo-class submarines, while India has funded a foreign-language classroom at Vietnam’s Air Force Officer School with a grant of $1 million.
The visit also follows closely on the heels of the visit by the defence minister, Rajnath Singh, to Hanoi in May, when he met his Vietnamese counterpart, General Phan Van Giang, and announced an artificial intelligence laboratory at the Telecommunications University in Nha Trang. Together, the two visits – one ministerial, one military – underline how Hanoi has become a fixed point on India’s defence-diplomacy calendar as it pursues its Act East policy and its wider Indo-Pacific strategy, an approach in which Vietnam’s location along the South China Sea gives it particular value.
Current cooperation between the two countries spans joint exercises, defence policy dialogue, joint research and technology co-development, and an increasing tempo of port calls by naval vessels and air force aircraft. Neither side indicated a fresh announcement from this week’s meeting, suggesting the visit was intended chiefly to consolidate existing programmes rather than launch new ones.
