INS Kirpan. (Photo via Twitter/@AdithyaKM_)
New Delhi: India has gifted INS Kirpan, an indigenously built missile corvette, which was in service with the Indian Navy until now, to Vietnam. The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, announced this after his meeting with the Vietnamese defence minister, General Phan Van Gang, in the national capital, on Monday.
The defence ministers of the two countries held wide-ranging talks on further strengthening the defence cooperation between New Delhi and Hanoi. In a media release, the defence ministry said: “Both Ministers identified means to enhance existing areas of collaboration, especially in the field of defence industry cooperation, maritime security and multinational cooperation.”
It further added: “Progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives was reviewed during the meeting, with both sides expressing satisfaction at the ongoing engagements.”
Reviewed the full range of India-Vietnam Defence ties during the fruitful meeting with Vietnamese Defence Minister, General Phan Van Giang in New Delhi today. pic.twitter.com/m5LUJiCM2S
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) June 19, 2023
India and Vietnam had been cooperating on defence, especially on maritime defence for some years now.
It may be noted that during Singh’s visit to Vietnam in June 2022, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on mutual logistics support. During that visit, Singh and his Vietnamese counterpart also signed the “Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam defence partnership towards 2030” to expand the scope and scale of defence cooperation between New Delhi and Hanoi.
Also, during his 2022 Vietnam visit, Singh handed over 12 high-speed patrol boats for Vietnam’s coast guard. For this purchase Hanoi used the $100 million line of credit that India offered the Southeast Asian country way back in 2013.
Both countries share territorial disputes with China.
About INS Kirpan
INS Kirpan (Pennant Number 44) is a Khukri-class missile corvette. Built by Kolkata’s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, the warship was launched on August 16, 1988, and was commissioned in the Indian Navy on January 12, 1991.
It has a full-load displacement of 1,350 tonnes (1,488 tons). It has a length of 91.1 metres. Its beam is of 10.5 metres and draught is of 4.5 metres. The ship is powered by two diesel engines in two shafts with 14,400hp of total power output.
The warship has a range of 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 kilometres) with a top speed of 16 knots per hour (30 kilometres per hour).
Its armament includes four P-20M anti-ship missiles, two Strela-2M anti-aircraft missiles. It is also equipped with one AK-176 76mm gun and two 30mm AK-630 guns. It also has a small helipad on its deck where a small helicopter can land and take off from.
In the Indian Navy, the ship’s crew comprised 79 sailors, including 10 officers. It carried a Chetak helicopter.
The warship has now been decommissioned from the Navy and handed over to Vietnam for its navy. The missile corvette is expected to give a boost to Hanoi’s maritime security.
