India Begins Training 500 Vietnam Sailors In Submarine Warfare

NEW DELHi, Nov 23 (Bernama) -- India has begun training of some 500 Vietnamese sailors in the art of submarine warfare operations, China's Xinhua news agency reported, citing the local daily The Times of India report Saturday.

During talks between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong last Wednesday, it was decided that India will transfer four naval offshore patral vessels to Vietnam under a US$100 million dollar credit line, said the newspaper.

The training of Vietnamese sailors in "comprehensive underwater combat operations" at Indian Navy's submarine school INS Satavahana in Visakhapatnam, south India, is a major initiative in an emerging strategic partnership between Delhi and Hanoi, said the paper.

"(Indian) Defence Minister A K Antony has promised all help to Vietnam for capacity building of its armed forces. There are already a couple of hundred Vietnamese officers and sailors, along with interpreters (in India). Over 500 Vietnamese sailors will be trained in batches by the Indian Navy," the newspaper quoted a defence ministry official as saying.

"Indian will continue to assist Vietnam in modernisation and training of its defence and security forces, including through US$100 million dollar line of credit for defence purchases," said the Indian prime minister earlier.