Countering China

General Ngo Xuan Lich, Defence Minister of Vietnam, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi Vietnam's defence minister General Ngo Xuan Lich's visit to India last month was not an ordinary visit. It showed how close the two nations are coming to each other with a single-point objective: to counter China geostrategically.
Vietnam has plans to contain China militarily as well as strategically – on its own and together with like-minded friends in the international community, particularly India. India is game to play tango with Vietnam in this context.
The biggest take away in talks between General Lich and his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar was the signing of an agreement which entails the Indians training Vietnamese fighter pilots on its Sukhoi-30MKI "air dominance jets."
Notably, India has been training Vietnamese sailors for operations on board Kilo-class submarines for the last three years. Vietnamese pilots will start arriving in India from the current year.
This is in line with the strategic understanding arrived at between the two countries during PM Modi's visit to Vietnam last September.
India has already declared a new $500 million defence line of credit to Vietnam and to identify which military projects will be used in the two countries' defence secretaries will be meeting in next two or three months.
In direct response to China's construction of military facilities in Spratly islands, Vietnam is expanding its own capabilities in the area, slowly but surely. For example, Vietnam is upgrading its sole runway in the South China Sea—at Spratly Island—and constructing new hangars at that feature.
A reality check for Vietnam however, which continues to be a worrying point for Hanoi, is that whereas China's man-made islands in the SCS can have as many as 24 fighter jets, the artificial islands made by Vietnam cannot accommodate even one fighter jet.
Significantly, Vietnam has recently deployed artillery rocket launchers on the Spratlys. Vietnam has also been working on its secret program of constructing a series of large hangars on newly reclaimed land on the northeast side of the island. The objective behind this is quite clear: deploy non-combat aircraft, such as its PZL M28B maritime surveillance craft and CASA C-295 transport planes, to Spratly Island.
Apart from the fact that Vietnam has lengthened the runway at Spratly Island (which is likely to be more than 4,000 feet) Vietnam has now added about 57 acres of land at Spratly Island.
Vietnam is getting full covert support in its "Contain China" strategic moves from powers like the United States, Japan and India.

--Rajeev Sharma



		EDITOR'S MAIL MATTERS OF PUBLIC POLICY NOTEBANDI DRAMA NOTEBANDI DRAMA FRANKLY SPEAKING POLL 2017 TAMIL NADU POLITICS TAMIL NADU POLITICS REALPOLITIK POLITICAL RESERVATION KASHMIR WATCH A HOLLOW RITUALRY ENVIRONMENTAL FALLOUT BABY TRAFFICKING AVIATION NOTE HITS & MISSES SPORT NOTEBOOK NEW PAK ARMY CHIEF PAGE FROM HISTORY MIDDLE EAST SCENE US WATCH NEW WHITE HOUSE INDO-VIETNAMESE TIES BOOK BAZAAR BOOK BAZAAR GENDER VIOLENCE SIGNS OF THE TIMES YOGA IN DAILY LIFE-IX ART OF LIVING Issue:January' 2017 Subscribe Now	INDO-VIETNAMESE TIES Countering China General Ngo Xuan Lich, Defence Minister of Vietnam, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi Vietnam's defence minister General Ngo Xuan Lich's visit to India last month was not an ordinary visit. It showed how close the two nations are coming to each other with a single-point objective: to counter China geostrategically. Vietnam has plans to contain China militarily as well as strategically – on its own and together with like-minded friends in the international community, particularly India. India is game to play tango with Vietnam in this context. The biggest take away in talks between General Lich and his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar was the signing of an agreement which entails the Indians training Vietnamese fighter pilots on its Sukhoi-30MKI "air dominance jets." Notably, India has been training Vietnamese sailors for operations on board Kilo-class submarines for the last three years. Vietnamese pilots will start arriving in India from the current year. This is in line with the strategic understanding arrived at between the two countries during PM Modi's visit to Vietnam last September. India has already declared a new $500 million defence line of credit to Vietnam and to identify which military projects will be used in the two countries' defence secretaries will be meeting in next two or three months. In direct response to China's construction of military facilities in Spratly islands, Vietnam is expanding its own capabilities in the area, slowly but surely. For example, Vietnam is upgrading its sole runway in the South China Sea—at Spratly Island—and constructing new hangars at that feature. A reality check for Vietnam however, which continues to be a worrying point for Hanoi, is that whereas China's man-made islands in the SCS can have as many as 24 fighter jets, the artificial islands made by Vietnam cannot accommodate even one fighter jet. Significantly, Vietnam has recently deployed artillery rocket launchers on the Spratlys. Vietnam has also been working on its secret program of constructing a series of large hangars on newly reclaimed land on the northeast side of the island. The objective behind this is quite clear: deploy non-combat aircraft, such as its PZL M28B maritime surveillance craft and CASA C-295 transport planes, to Spratly Island. Apart from the fact that Vietnam has lengthened the runway at Spratly Island (which is likely to be more than 4,000 feet) Vietnam has now added about 57 acres of land at Spratly Island. Vietnam is getting full covert support in its "Contain China" strategic moves from powers like the United States, Japan and India. --Rajeev Sharma