Vietnam - India cooperate in weapons production: Great opportunity

That is the opinion of Mr. Nguyen Anh Son, a member of the 13th National Assembly, in response to the information that the Indian Minister of Defense has just expressed his desire to work with Vietnam towards building Indian factories in Vietnam with the goal of manufacturing defense equipment and possibly exporting it to third countries.

According to Mr. Son, the relationship and cooperation in the field of defense industry between Vietnam and India over the years has always had a foundation and has progressed very well. Especially on the Indian side, according to him, Vietnam has received much attention and favor from this country in training and exchange in the military and defense fields.

Referring to the goodwill of the Indian Defense Minister to strengthen and expand cooperation in the field of defense and security, including the construction of joint venture factories to produce Indian defense equipment in Vietnam, Mr. Son completely agreed and supported.

Similar to the prospect of cooperation in weapons production as well as the military and defense fields between Vietnam and Israel, the former member of the National Assembly's Defense and Security Committee affirmed that this is a completely correct direction.

However, as a former National Assembly member working at the National Assembly's Defense and Security Committee for many years, Mr. Nguyen Anh Son wants to clarify which segment the direction of cooperation in weapons production will follow.

"Does India want to cooperate in producing infantry weapons, lethal weapons or will it move towards producing high-tech weapons, especially electronic technology?

If the above proposal is directed towards the production of high-tech electronic weapons, not directly related to lethal weapons, it is very good. Vietnam has advantages and has also achieved many great achievements in science and technology such as: electronic weapons, electronic warfare, high-tech weapons.

If we focus on this field, this will be an opportunity for Vietnam to promote its strengths.

Furthermore, by focusing on the high-tech electronics sector, Vietnam will have the opportunity to access modern knowledge and equipment, creating opportunities for Vietnam to develop.

Who knows, in the future, Vietnam's military technical equipment related to electronics and telecommunications will be able to affirm its position and find a place in the international market," Mr. Son hopes.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Son believes that choosing to follow the modern electronics industry segment will create an impact not only in the fields of security and defense but also have a great impact on economic development, limiting environmental risks.

In particular, Mr. Son emphasized that in order to develop national defense potential, from the past until now, we have often not been proactive in weapons. Therefore, promoting and opening up cooperative relations with a new partner, especially India, will help Vietnam be more proactive.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Son also mentioned that Vietnam has now become self-sufficient in some military equipment. He hopes that the deep and close cooperation with a long-standing tradition between Vietnam and India will open up a new direction for Vietnam in this field.

Assuming that Vietnam can become the world's weapons factory, Mr. Son said that the most important thing is that Vietnam must improve the capacity of its staff and technicians as well as invest additional funds to support it.

"Technically, although we have achieved a certain level, to have a large enough scale for the defense industry and meet cooperation requirements, we also need to accumulate and have a large investment.

We must orient and find ways to overcome this. If the time comes when cooperation opportunities arise and Vietnam cannot implement or grasp them, it would be a pity," Mr. Son emphasized.

Commenting further on this issue, Major General Le Van Cuong, former Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies (Ministry of Public Security), said that the desire of the Indian Ministry of Defense in military and defense cooperation and development is completely consistent with the defense cooperation practices between the two countries.

"This is a very good condition to help Vietnam strengthen its defense capacity, ensure peace, and maintain territorial integrity, not for any other purpose. Therefore, I think Vietnam should respond," Major General Le Van Cuong emphasized.