Article Posted on : - Nov 10, 2013

NEW DELHI (PTI): Seeking to strengthen defence ties, India and Vietnam held Defence Secretary-level talks during which the two sides discussed military hardware cooperation.

Defence Secretary R K Mathur held delegation-level parleys with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Chi Vinh in Hanoi where they discussed cooperation in military hardware sector, Defence Ministry officials said.

The two sides have enhanced military ties with each other in the recent years and during the meeting, they are understood to have discussed the regional security situation including that in the disputed South China sea.

India and Vietnam were working together on a joint oil exploration project in areas in South China Sea claimed by Vietnam when the Chinese had objected to Indian presence there.

India and Vietnam share a lot of commonality in defence hardware as both the countries operate the Russian-origin weapon systems such as the Kilo-Class submarines and frigates.

It is also learnt that the Vietnamese have shown interest in procuring the Indo-Russian Joint Venture BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles for its Navy.

Defence Minister AK Antony had also visited Vietnam few years ago and similar reciprocal visits from the top Vietnamese leadership have taken place in the recent years.