The Air Chief Vietnam engagements widened on Tuesday, when Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, Chief of the Air Staff, paid tributes at the Mausoleum of President Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi before travelling to a frontline fighter unit as his official visit to Vietnam moved into its third day.

The mausoleum call is a customary stop for senior foreign military visitors to Hanoi. ACM AP Singh's tribute honoured the legacy of Vietnam's founding leader, whose embalmed remains lie at the site on Ba Dinh Square.

Inside Regiment 927, 371 Air Division

From the mausoleum, ACM AP Singh moved on to Regiment 927 of the 371 Air Division, under the Air Defence and Air Force Service of the Vietnam People's Army. He met the unit's leadership and spoke with its fighter pilots, gaining what the Indian mission in Hanoi described as first hand insight into the regiment's operational role and training.

Where the Sukhois are based

Regiment 927 is a Su-30MK2 unit. Vietnam has flown the twin seat Sukhoi across two air regiments since the early 2010s, built up through successive contracts for the multirole fighter placed with Russia's Komsomolsk on Amur plant. The visit gave the IAF chief a direct look at a fleet that shares its Sukhoi lineage with India's own Su-30MKI force, even though the two variants differ.

A courtesy call on the Vietnamese Chief of the General Staff

ACM AP Singh called on Gen Nguyen Tan Cuong, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army and Deputy Minister of National Defence, on Wednesday at the Ministry of National Defence in Hanoi.

The two sides reviewed the trajectory of India Vietnam defence cooperation, with particular emphasis on Air Force to Air Force engagement, capacity building and professional exchanges. They also exchanged views on regional and global security issues of mutual interest, and the meeting reaffirmed a shared commitment to deepen defence ties within the framework of the Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.


Air Chief Vietnam engagements build on a busy year

The Air Chief Vietnam engagements are the latest entry in a run of senior contacts between the two militaries this year. ACM AP Singh's visit opened in Hanoi on Monday with a ceremonial reception and talks with Lieutenant General Vu Hong Son, who heads Vietnam's combined Air Defence and Air Force Service.

Weeks earlier, an Indian naval task group had called at Ho Chi Minh City, and the two countries have separately concluded a coastal battery supply agreement for the BrahMos missile. The Ministry of National Defence in Hanoi has hosted a steady stream of these visits since India and Vietnam elevated their ties to an Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership a decade ago.

What the framework covers

The 2022 Joint Vision Statement on defence cooperation, running to 2030, set the terms most of this year's exchanges sit under, including a mutual logistics support agreement, the first Vietnam signed with any partner. Air Force to Air Force engagement of the kind reviewed with Gen Nguyen Tan Cuong falls within that document's scope, alongside capacity building and professional exchange programmes that both sides have repeatedly cited this year.