India has signed a deal with Vietnam to equip it with the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system, while a similar agreement with Indonesia is in the “final stages,” India’s defense secretary said on Saturday.
Responding to a question from a Vietnamese delegate at the Shangri-La Dialogue defense forum in Singapore, Rajesh Kumar Singh told reporters that an agreement with Vietnam had been signed – the first public acknowledgement of a sale that has been rumored for several years.
“My understanding is that with both Indonesia and with Vietnam, the deal is in the final stages, that in fact, for Vietnam, I understand that it has already been signed, probably not publicly announced, but it’s already been signed,” he said, as per a report by ThePrint, an Indian media outlet.
He added, “obviously you are in the category of friendly foreign country with whom we would be happy to share this kind of advanced technology.”
Singh did not disclose any specifics about the deal with Vietnam, but ThePrint cited sources in the defence and security establishment as saying that the deal to sell the BrahMos missile to Vietnam was signed last fiscal year. “They said that given the sensitivities involved, the deal was never publicly announced till now,” the outlet reported.
