India gifts missile corvette to Vietnam amidst deepening ties
The corvette INS Kirpan, pictured before its handover from the Indian Navy to Vietnam. (Photo: Indian MoD)
Cementing the two countries' defence partnership, India has donated a second-hand warship to Vietnam.
India gifted a 32-year-old missile corvette, INS Kirpan, to the Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN). This is the first time that India has donated an operational corvette to a friendly country.
The former Indian Navy vessel departed Visakhapatnam on 28 June and arrived in Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam on 8 July. Built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, the ex-INS Kirpan is the third of four Khukri-class corvettes.
When Gen Phan Van Giang, Vietnam’s Minister of Defence, visited India from 17-19 June, his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh had promised to gift this vessel.
The Indian MoD said the
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