On December 11, the Indian and Vietnamese Armies started an 11-day military exercise in Vietnam. This was in line with the growing strategic partnership between the two countries, which was sparked by worries about China’s rising assertiveness in the South China Sea.
The Indian Army said that the goal of the exercise is to help the two forces work together and be able to work with each other.
“The joint exercise will help the two contingents understand each other better and work together better,” it said. “It will also strengthen defense cooperation between the friendly Armies.”
To show how close their strategic ties are growing, India gave Vietnam its operational missile corvette, INS Kirpan, in July.
Vietnam is an important member of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), but it has a land dispute with China in the South China Sea.
In the South China Sea, near Vietnam, India has projects to look for oil.
A military drill called “VINBAX-23” will happen in Hanoi from December 11th to December 21st between the two Armies.
The Indian team is made up of 45 people: 39 from an engineer regiment in the Bengal Engineer Group and 6 from the Army Medical Corps.
For the drill, 45 people from the Vietnam People’s Army have been sent out.
VINBAX started in 2018, and the first event of the combined military drill took place in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
It is an annual training event that takes place in India and Vietnam every other year.
The most recent one took place at the Chandimandir military station in August 2022.
The Indian Army said in a statement that the exercise’s goal is to help the two sides work together, share best practices, and make the most of Chapter VII of the UN Charter on Peacekeeping Operations.
It also said, “The exercise will be run as a command post exercise-cum-field training exercise with a focus on training and using an engineer company and a medical team.”
The Army said that the exercise would help people share their ideas and that both groups would work together to practice tactics, techniques, and procedures.
“People will share their thoughts on new ways to build roads, culverts, helipads, ammunition shelters, and observation posts in operational areas.” “There will also be practice runs for drills involving combat engineering and combat medical tasks,” it said.
At the end of the drill, there will be a validation exercise where the standards met by both groups will be shown off.
The Army said, “Both sides will conduct technical military operations in line with scenarios similar to the deployment of UN contingents around the world.”
