Opening session of the Geneva Conference on May 8, 1954 (File photo: VNA)According to Son, the signing of the agreementopened up a new page in the Vietnamese people’s struggle for national liberationand unification. After 70 years, the lessons from negotiating, signing andimplementing the agreement remain valuable for the nation building,safeguarding and development cause today.
The victory at the 75-day Geneva Conferenceoriginated from the correct revolutionary path and the sound leadership anddirection of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh; and from the desire for peaceand patriotism as well as the mettle and wisdom of the Vietnamese people forgedthrough thousands of years of building and defending the country.
The Geneva Conference contributed to thecultivation of numerous outstanding leaders and diplomats in the Ho Chi Minhera such as Pham Van Dong, Ta Quang Buu, and Ha Van Lau, Son wrote.
Seventy years have passed, the Vietnamese peoplealways keep in mind the pure solidarity as well as support and assistance ofthe peoples of Laos, Cambodia and socialist countries and peace lovers aroundthe world, including those in France, for Vietnam in its resistance warsagainst colonialism and imperialism.
Therefore, the Geneva Agreement is avictory of not only Vietnam, but also the three Indochinese countries, and alsoa victory for the oppressed peoples in their struggle for national liberation.Along with the Dien Bien Phu victory, the Geneva Accords on ending the war andrestoring peace in Indochina strongly encouraged the movement to fight forpeace and national independence, starting the collapse of oldcolonialism worldwide. From 1954 - 1964, 17 out of the 22 French coloniesgained independence.
In his article, the foreign ministerunderlined that with the lessons learned from the negotiation and signing process,for nearly 40 years of renewal, Vietnam has consistently implemented its foreignpolicy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation,proactive and active integration, and being a friend, a trusted partner and anactive, responsible member of the international community.
To date, it has set up diplomatic ties with193 United Nations members, and been an active and responsible member of over70 regional and international organisations and forums such as the UN, theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the World Trade Organisation(WTO), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and the Asia-EuropeMeeting (ASEM).
It has also signed and been negotiating 19free trade agreements, thus creating an open network of economic links withabout 60 economies around the world.
Promoting the lessons of the Geneva Agreement and the glorious tradition of Vietnam's revolutionary diplomacy, the diplomaticsector, under the Party's leadership, is determined to build a strong,comprehensive, modern, and sustainable Vietnamese diplomacy which contributesto the successful implementation of the foreign policy worked out by the 13th National Party Congress, Son affirmed./.
VNA
