Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh receives Ms. Smita Nagaraj. Photo: mod.gov.vn

A senior Indian official has stated that her country will come up with a detailed plan to assist the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence, including the building of a hi-speed patrol ship for Vietnam.

Joint Secretary of the International Cooperation under the Indian Defence Ministry Smita Nagaraj, who is in Vietnam to attend the second meeting of the Vietnam-India defence cooperation group, made the statement while meeting with Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh in Hanoi on June 18.

India values the development of ties with Vietnam, its top trustworthy partner in Southeast Asia, especially in defence, she said.

Beyond mutual support in defence industry, India and Vietnam will produce military equipment together, for their own and the Southeast Asian region, she added.

Vinh, for his part, said he is pleased with the progress of bilateral defence coordination, especially between air and naval forces, which is on the right track set at their defence dialogue last year.

He expressed his belief that in the time to come, the two sides will work harder to foster their ties, especially in defence industry.

Source: VNA