Rajnath Singh hands over 12 high-speed guard boats to Vietnam

TIL Desk/National/Hanoi/ Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday handed over to Vietnam 12 high-speed guard boats built under a USD 100 million Line of Credit granted to the Southeast Asian country by India.

 The boats were given by Singh at a ceremony in the Hong Ha shipyard amid increasing maritime security cooperation between the two sides to deal with Beijing’s increasing military assertiveness in the South China Sea region. The defence minister is on a three-day visit to Vietnam from June 8 to 10.

 “It gives me great pleasure to join this historic ceremony marking the successful completion of the project to build 12 high-speed guard boats under the USD 100 million defence Line of Credit by India,” he said at the event.

 The initial five boats were manufactured at the L&T Shipyard in India and the remaining seven were built in the Hong Ha shipyard. “I am confident that this will be a precursor to many more cooperative defence projects between India and Vietnam,” Singh said.