India has signed a deal with Vietnam under which it will supply BrahMos missiles which it has jointly developed with Russia and is in “final stages” for a similar deal with Indonesia, India’s Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said on Saturday. India has a strong commitment to Asean nations, Singh said, without disclosing more details of the deals related to BrahMos. Singh was speaking at Asia’s premier defence forum, the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. India, which has been...
Vietnam’s globetrotting leader To Lam began his first trip to Thailand with trade and security talks dominating the agenda, as well as a symbolic visit to the former home of Ho Chi Minh, the founder of modern Vietnam who once lived in the northeast of the kingdom. To Lam, the president and general secretary of the Communist Party, is seen by many as the country’s most powerful leader since the era of Ho Chi Minh. The former secret policeman has been zipping across global capitals as he seeks to...
Vietnam’s To Lam is a man in a hurry. Since claiming the nation’s top job, its most powerful leader in decades has been in near-constant motion, pressing flesh and signing deals in Beijing, Washington, Pyongyang and Moscow. His itinerary, which also included stops in New Delhi, Helsinki, Paris, London and several Southeast Asian capitals, reads less like a diplomatic calendar than a world tour – and analysts say that is precisely the point. “Where previous leaders practised a restrained,...
Vietnam has become the latest country to enter talks to buy India’s supersonic BrahMos missile – and at least 15 more are reportedly interested – as defence ministries across Asia and elsewhere increasingly look beyond Western-made systems. New Delhi and Hanoi are in advanced negotiations over a potential US$700 million deal, with talks progressing during Vietnamese President To Lam’s visit to India this week, where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other...
Vietnam has expanded its outposts in the South China Sea by hundreds of acres over the past year, according to a new report, as Hanoi and Beijing race to reinforce competing territorial claims through land reclamation. Vietnam has added about 534 acres (2.16 square km) of land in the Spratly Islands, bringing its total reclaimed area to roughly 2,771 acres (11.2 square km), according to the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. While Hanoi had appeared to be narrowing the gap...