Calling on the Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) to closely examine and explore the vast potential that the Indian shipbuilding industry holds and stressing that it is the best value-for-money proposition they can find, Navy Chief R. Hari Kumar on Saturday said that India’s indigenous shipbuilding prowess is also an “assurance to our friends and partners” that the Indian Navy is capable and ready to support our collective security needs in the region. He said this while speaking at the ceremony for decommissioning of the indigenous missile corvette INS Kirpan after 32 years in the Indian Navy, and was handed over to Cam Ranh, Vietnam.
The decommissioning and handing over ceremony was presided over by Adm. Kumar and Rear Adm. Pham Manh Hung, Deputy Commander-in-Chief and Chief of Staff, VPN. “What makes this occasion even more significant is the fact that this is the first-ever occasion that India is offering a fully-operational corvette to any friendly foreign country,” Adm Kumar noted.
“The transfer of INS Kirpan from the Indian Navy to the VPN symbolises the status of Indian Navy being the ‘Preferred Security Partner’ in the Indian Ocean Region and would definitely be a catalyst for enhancing the existing bilateral relations between the two navies,” the Navy said in a statement. “The ship has been handed over today to VPN with complete weapon complement.”
