India signed a defense pact with Vietnam on Wednesday, pledging to “significantly increase the scope and scale” of their military coordination over the coming decade.
The announcement came hard on the heels of China launching a highly suspicious port construction project with Vietnam’s neighbor Cambodia.
The Times of India (TOI) noted the defense pact was signed after “fruitful” talks between the defense ministers of India and Vietnam, conducted against “the backdrop of both countries being wary of China’s aggressive and expansionist behavior in the Indo-Pacific region.”
TOI noted it was the first memorandum of understanding on military logistics support Vietnam has signed with any other country. India has logistical support agreements with several other global and regional powers, including the United States.
The agreement allows Indian and Vietnamese forces to use each other’s bases for repair and resupply. India agreed to expedite a $500 million line of credit for defense products to Vietnam and gifted the Vietnamese with 12 high-speed coast guard boats, two training simulators, and a million-dollar cash grant to establish a Vietnamese Air Force training program.
Vietnam is still a Communist country – Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh kicked off his visit by paying his respects at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum in Hanoi – but relations with its former patron China have deteriorated amid South China Sea territorial disputes.
Hanoi seems intent on reminding China that its military forces should not be taken for granted. In March, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended a ceremony honoring the 64 sailors and marines who were slaughtered in a lopsided 1988 battle with the Chinese navy at Johnson South Reef in the Spratly Islands.
The Vietnamese government rarely mentions the Johnson South Reef battle and has never before held an official memorial ceremony for its dead. The unprecedented participation of the prime minister in the commemoration this year was seen as a gesture of defiance to China – a reminder that Vietnam is prepared to fight for its sovereignty, no matter the odds.
Vietnam finds a natural defense partner in India, which has its own territorial disputes with China and is keen to check Beijing’s arrogant expansionism. Both India and Vietnam have good reason to be displeased with Cambodia’s decision to expand its Ream naval base with Chinese military assistance – contributions that will reportedly be repaid by allowing China to build a secret military facility at the base.
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