India confirms BrahMos missile deal with Vietnam, Indonesia pact in final stages

India has signed a deal to sell the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system to Vietnam, and a similar agreement with Indonesia is in its final stages. Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh confirmed the development on May 30, 2026 at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, marking the first official statement on the Vietnam deal.

Speaking on the sidelines of the security forum, Mr Singh said his understanding was that the Vietnam contract had already been signed, even though it had not yet been publicly announced. The Indonesia deal, he said, was in its final stages. Neither the value of the Vietnam deal nor that of the Indonesia deal has been officially disclosed. The Philippines became the first foreign buyer of BrahMos in 2022 through a contract worth nearly 375 million US dollars. Indonesia had announced its intent to procure the missile system in March 2026.

The BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile developed jointly by India and Russia by combining the strengths of the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya. It is capable of being launched from land, sea, submarine and air platforms and can travel close to three times the speed of sound. The system is regarded as one of the fastest cruise missiles in service anywhere in the world. Its exports are also a centrepiece of India's push to grow defence exports under the Atmanirbhar Bharat policy.

Mr Singh framed the exports in terms of trust and partnership. He told delegates that countries generally share advanced weapons only with nations they regard as friendly. India, he said, treats ASEAN states as friendly partners with whom advanced defence technologies can be shared. The ten member states of ASEAN, along with Timor-Leste which the speaker counted as the eleventh, include several countries with overlapping maritime claims against China in the South China Sea.

He also offered a broader picture of India's defence industry. Government-owned firms now account for about 72 per cent of defence production, with the private sector contributing the rest. Three Indian state-owned defence companies are among the world's top 100 arms producers. India has built credible capabilities in missile systems, fighter aircraft and main battle tanks, and is working to close gaps in propulsion technology across land, air and sea platforms.

Mr Singh said that defence preparedness in today's world cannot depend on fragile or overly concentrated supply chains. He said nations need resilient, trusted and technologically adaptive defence industrial ecosystems. For India, he added, this is not only about self-reliance but also about building diversified manufacturing networks, secure supply chains and innovation partnerships that contribute to regional and global stability.

For exam aspirants, this development is significant because it shows that BrahMos exports are emerging as a genuine instrument of India's foreign and strategic policy in the Indo-Pacific. Important linked themes include defence indigenisation, the joint venture model of military hardware development, ASEAN centrality in India's Act East policy and the use of arms transfers to shape the balance of power in the South China Sea.