VINBAX- 1st Military Exercise between India and Vietnam

For the first time, the armies of India and Vietnam began the six days long military exercise on 29th January 2018 in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.

The exercise 'VINBAX' reflects the growing defence ties between the two countries.
VINBAX is a six-day-long military exercise which will be held from January 29 to February 3, 2018.
India and Vietnam have been exploring ways to strengthen defence cooperation. The Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc was here in India to participate in the Indian-ASEAN Commemorative Summit and was present in the Republic Day celebrations as well.
The issue of defence and security cooperation figured prominently during the bilateral talks Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with his Vietnamese counterpart.

Background

Defence ties between India and Vietnam were always on the go with the primary focus being cooperation in the maritime domain.
India and Vietnam had signed a protocol on defence cooperation in 1994. The partnership was thereafter elevated to the strategic level in 2007 and later on a pact on boosting bilateral defence cooperation was signed in 2009.
The strategic partnership was elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership in September 2016.

VINBAX-2018 was Table Top Exercise to carry out training for Peace Keeping Operations under United Nations (UN) mandate.
It was jointly undertaken between 15 officers each from Indian Army and Vietnam People’s Army.
The joint exercise was specially designed to enable and train officers from Vietnam in United Nations Peace Keeping Operations.
VINBAX involves mutual interaction and sharing of experiences amongst both armies.
It would also further strengthen the cultural and historical ties between both the nations and would take the bilateral relations forward to greater heights.