Earlier this month, the director general of Israel’s Defense Ministry was in Hanoi to discuss boosting defense ties with the Vietnamese defense minister. In an email interview, Alvite Singh Ningthoujam, a doctoral researcher at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, discussed Israel’s defense relationships in Southeast Asia.
WPR: How established are Israel-Vietnam defense ties, and what initiatives are planned or underway to expand them?
Alvite Singh Ningthoujam: Defense ties between Israel and Vietnam have been growing significantly, particularly since then-Israeli President Shimon Peres’ visit in November 2011. Given Vietnam’s large army and its obsolete Soviet-era weapons systems, Israel is in a position to upgrade Hanoi’s defense systems and military technologies.