The Vietnamese Prime Minister, during his visit to India, has signed a string of agreements in the defense sector and the oil sector. As part of the agreement, India will now supply Vietnam with naval vessels. The deals also relate to securing oil exploration rights from the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. The oil exploration agreement is located in the South China Sea, which has been a bone of contention among China and Vietnam for many years now. Market analysts expect that these deals could likely cause a stir in China, which is reportedly watching deals between the two countries closely.
The agreements were announced during the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s visit to India, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured his counterpart that his government would rapidly ‘operationalize’ a credit line to the tune of US$100 million that had been established, when Pranab Mukherjee, the Indian president had visited Hanoi earlier in September 2014.
India will now sell four ships (offshore patrol) to Vietnam. The country will also undertake training programs and exercises for the military forces in Vietnam, a leading Indian daily – the Economic Times – reported.
Currently, a number of Southeast Asian nations are engaged in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea – a rapidly emerging world power. The agreements between India and China have now made market watchers curious about what China’s next move is going to be. This is the first time in the history of India and Vietnam that the two countries have made an active effort to expand their military ties.
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