In-service missile corvette INS Kirpan, on her final journey from India to Vietnam, cast off Visakhapatnam on June 28 (Wednesday).
During the recent visit of Vietnam Defence Minister Gen Phan Van Giang, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had announced gifting the in-service missile corvette to Vietnam, a release said here on Wednesday.
This is the maiden occasion of gifting a fully operational corvette by India to any ‘Friendly Foreign Country’. The transfer of INS Kirpan to Vietnam resonates India’s vision of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ and ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR)’, the release added.
INS Kirpan is the third indigenously built Khukri class missile corvette, currently in active service in the Indian Navy. The ship is equipped with an array of weapons and sensors and it has participated in various operational and humanitarian assistance operations.
INS Kirpan will be handed over to Vietnam People’s Navy after its arrival in that country.
Officers and personnel of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) led by Vice-Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, Chief of Staff, bid a farewell to the ship at a ceremonial function at Naval Dockyard here.
The relationship between the two countries was upgraded from a Strategic Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in September 2016. After the signing of an MoU on defence cooperation by the two countries in November 2009, the relations have grown over the past decade. In June 2022, the two Defence Ministers signed a ‘Joint Vision Statement on India - Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030’.
