New Delhi: India and Vietnam have signed a deal to sell the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh announced Saturday, marking the first public acknowledgement of the sale.
Responding to a question from a Vietnamese delegate at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Singh revealed information that had not been publicly disclosed until now.
“My understanding is that with both Indonesia and with Vietnam, the deal is in the final stages, that in fact, for Vietnam, I understand that it has already been signed, probably not publicly announced, but it’s already been signed,” he said.
The Defence Secretary added, “So yes, obviously you are in the category of friendly foreign country with whom we would be happy to share this kind of advanced technology”.
He did not mention when this deal was signed, nor the value or quantity.
However, sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint that the deal to sell the 390-km-range BrahMos missile for coastal defence to Vietnam was signed last fiscal.
They said that given the sensitivities involved, the deal was never publicly announced till now.
Interestingly, on 6 May this year, the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that India and Vietnam are in discussions for the sale of the BrahMos.
“Vietnam is an important partner in the Indo-Pacific, and all these areas we cooperate in are based on the broad premise that a strong Vietnam will support the cause of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. We talk about a number of platforms, and the Brahmos platform is one of them. On BrahMos, specifically, watch this space,” P Kumaran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, had said at a special briefing.
This came after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Vietnamese President To Lam.
Defence Secretary also said that India will sell its advanced weapons and platforms to friendly foreign countries.
“Obviously, you wouldn’t sell it to an adversary or someone who can give it to an adversary…India has a strong commitment to the Asian nations, and we treat all of you as friendly foreign countries with whom we can share advanced defence technologies,” he said.
As reported by ThePrint in March, India and Indonesia have also finalised a deal for the procurement of one battery of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile for its coastal defence.
The deal is expected to be formally signed soon, but could remain under wraps for sometime just like the Vietnam contract.
Also Read: India-Vietnam in talks over BrahMos, maintenance & repair of defence platforms as ties elevated