Countering China: India helps Vietnam in building submarine fleet

New Delhi, June 19, 2011: To counter the rising neighbour in the east - China, India has decided to build strong relations with the South East Asian country of Vietnam. As part of this endeavour India is helping Vietnam to build its submarine fleet.

Embroiled in tensions with its giant neighbour over oil-rich Spratly islands in South China Sea, Vietnam – with most of its military hardware ageing – is focusing on developing an underwater fleet with Russian submarines. India, which has been operating the Russian platforms for long is helping Vietnam gain the operational know-how.

“We are helping Vietnam in building their submarine fleet. Our experience in operating these submarines will be shared with them,” the official said, refusing to elaborate whether the Vietnamese sailors will be given an experience on the Indian Kilo class submarines.

Vietnam contracted to purchase six diesel-powered Kilo-class submarines from Russia in 2009 with a primary rationale to counter China’s military build-up in the South China Sea. The submarine is designed for anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface ship warfare and also for general reconnaissance and patrol missions.

Kilo class submarines are nicknamed "Black Holes" for their ability to avoid detection and are considered to be among the quietest diesel-electric submarines in the world. The Indian Navy operates Sindhughosh class submarines, an Indian variant of Russian Kilo class.

National Maritime Foundation’s Director Commodore (retd) Uday Bhaskar termed Vietnam an important strategic partner for India due to its geographic location and checkered history with China. “Both of us have military inventory sourced from Russia. So India can bring valuable technical support on the table,” Bhaskar said.

The move has come after defence minister A K Antony during a visit to Vietnam in 2010 assured India’s support to “enhance and upgrade” the capabilities of Vietnamese armed forces in general and navy in particular.

An Indian Navy official, on condition of anonymity suggested that giving an experience to the Vietnamese Navy in operating submarines is not a far fetched idea. The Indian Navy has been conducting naval exercises with them on a consistence basis to promote understanding and cooperation in the areas of common interest and safeguard sea lanes of communication and to increase interoperability between the two fleets.

While a submarine fleet will give Vietnam more bargaining power, India would gain a strategic advantage to counter China’s “string of pearls” strategy”. China has been strengthening its foothold in the Indian Ocean Region, which could prove to be an important choke point in case of a future conflict in the region, by creating a string of naval assets in the region.

India has also planned to hold a joint army exercise with Vietnamese Army and give their soldiers two months’ training at the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in Mizoram.

Commodore Bhaskar also pointed out that Vietnam has been able to deal with three of the five permanent members of the United Nations- namely China, the US and France in the past. This he said reflects the “resilience” of the Vietnamese people and makes it a “valuable strategic partner”.