Why China Should Fear India's Arms Sales to Vietnam (Think South China Sea)

Helen Clark

Security, Asia

What will Beijing do? 

India is poised to sell its sophisticated Akash missile defense system to Vietnam, the latest development in a broad strategic relationship that has grown rapidly in recent years and added a new twist to the spiraling power contest in the South China Sea. The talks, consistent with India’s ambition to be a major arms supplier, were first reported this week by the Times of India.

The medium range surface-to-air missile, produced by New Delhi’s Ministry of Defense, can target aircraft, helicopters and drones up to 25 kilometers away at a time when China is building up aerial defenses over fixtures it claims in the contested maritime area. India has also offered to sell its Varunastra anti-submarine torpedoes to Vietnam amid heightened tensions with China.

Vietnam has steadily built up its military capabilities over the past decade, including a surge in new foreign procurements with applicability in the hotly contested South China Sea. Beijing reacted with irritation to last year’s lifting of the US’ long-held arms embargo against Vietnam. It has not yet responded to reports of the proposed Akash missile system sale.

Defense cooperation has been central to bilateral ties since 2007, when India and Vietnam signed a broad memorandum of understanding on training, exchanges, and visits. In September last year, the two sides elevated ties from a “strategic” to a “comprehensive strategic” partnership, making India one of Vietnam’s top strategic allies. Since 2011, Vietnam has doubled to 15 the number of global strategic partnerships it engages in a bid to diversify its post-Cold War diplomacy.

The pending missile system sale comes to light after earlier talks on Vietnam’s bid to procure the Brahmos short-range supersonic missile system, produced by an Indo-Russian joint venture, stalled without Russia’s agreement. The Brahmos is known to be the world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation. India and Russia plan to develop a new generation of the missile capable of hitting targets at a 600-kilometer range.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put wind into the sails of Indo-Vietnamese defense cooperation. In October 2014, when then-Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited India, Modi said: “Our defense cooperation with Vietnam is among our most important ones. India remains committed to the modernization of Vietnam’s defense and security forces.”