President Tran Dai Quang. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Leaders of foreign countries and international organisationshave sent their condolences to Vietnamese Party, State and Government leadersand people, as well as President Tran Dai Quang’s family following the passingof the leader.
MalaysianPrime Minister Mahithir Mohamad expressed his condolences to Acting PresidentDang Thi Ngoc Thinh. In his letter, the Malaysian PM highly valued PresidentQuang’s contributions to enhancing bilateral ties between the two countries,and expressed his belief that Vietnamese people will overcome this hard time tocontinue fulfilling the President’s dreams of turning Vietnam into a prosperousnation.
IndianPresident Ram Nath Kovind also sent condolences to General Secretary of theCommunist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong, praisingPresident Quang as a great patriot, a politician and a good friend of India.
ThePresident’s passing is a great loss to the Vietnamese Government and people aswell as their Indian counterparts, he said.
Meanwhile,in his letter to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, French Prime Minister EdouardPhilippe said he was saddened and moved when learning about President Quang’sdeath.
GermanPresident Frank-Walter Steinmeier also said he was stunned by the news in aletter to Acting President Thinh. He highlighted contributions by PresidentQuang to Vietnam’s international integration as well as the friendship betweenVietnam and Germany, saying the Vietnamese and Germany peoples always keep inmind his contributions.
UK PrimeMinister Theresa May extended her condolences to Acting President Thinh overthe passing of President Quang who, she said, had strongly supported theenhancement of the strategic partnership between Vietnam and the UK.
ItalianPresident Sergio Mattarella also expressed his condolences to Acting PresidentThinh and recalled his meeting with President Quang in Italy in November 2016.President Quang had significantly contributed to the development of theVietnam-Italy strategic partnership, he said.
President ofthe European Council Donal Tusk and President of the European CommissionJean-Claude Juncker said they were grieved at the death of President Quang intheir letters sent to PM Phuc. President Quang had demonstrated his commitmentand resolve to advancing Vietnam’s position in the world and consolidatingrelations between Vietnam and Europe, they said.
On behalf ofthe leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) membercountries, Singapore, which is holding the ASEAN Chairmanship, sent condolencesto the bereaved family, the Vietnamese Government and people.
Also on September 26, the ASEAN Committee of PermanentRepresentatives held a minute’s silence in memory of the Vietnamese Presidentbefore the opening of its 17th meeting in Jakarta.
UkrainePresident Petro Poroshenko sent his condolences to Party General Secretary Trong,Acting President Thinh, Prime Minister Phuc and National Assembly ChairwomanNguyen Thi Kim Ngan.
Vietnameseleaders also received condolences from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, NewZealand Governor General Patsy Reddy and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, PolishPresident Adrzei Duda, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, Moldova President IgorDodon, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Czech Republic’s President MilosZerman, Swedish King Carl Gustaf, and Swiss President Alain Berset.
ItalianMinister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Enzo Moavero Milanesialso sent his condolences to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister PhamBinh Minh over the Vietnamese leader’s passing away.
On September26, many senior officials, ambassadors and chargé d’affaires of foreign countriesand representatives of international organisations as well as overseasVietnamese paid homage to President Quang.
The Cambodian delegation to thefuneral was led by Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hunsen, while the delegationfrom Laos was headed by Vice President Phankham Viphanvanh; from China led by member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureu of the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CommunistParty of China Zhao Leji; from Cuba led by Vice President of the Council ofState and Council of Ministers Roberto Morales Ojeda; from Russia led by DeputyChairwoman of the State Duma of Russia Epifanova Olga Nikolaevna; from theRepublic of Korea led by Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon; and from Singapore led byDeputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo CheeHean.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister ChatchaiSarikulya led the Thai delegation; Special Envoy of President Joko Widodo,Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto headedthe Indonesian delegation; Head of the Myanmar Government Office Thoong Tun ledthe Myanmar delegation.
The delegation from Japan was headedby Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan Nikai Toshihiro;from Belarus led by Chairman of the Council of the Republic of Belarus’National Assembly Mikhail Myasnikovich; from the World Federation of TradeUnion led by General Secretary George Mavrikos. Archbishop Marek Zalewski,Non-residential Pontifical Representative to Vietnam, and Cardinal Nguyen VanNhon also led delegations of the Vatican and the Catholic Bishops’ Conferenceof Vietnam, respectively.
Foreign delegations, representativesfrom consulate generals of countries and international organisations in Ho ChiMinh City paid homage to President Quang and wrote on the funeral book at ThongNhat Hall.
The memorial service was held at7:30am on September 27 at the National Funeral Hall. The burial ceremony willtake place from 3:30pm on the same day in the President's native land in QuangThien commune, Kim Son district, Ninh Binh province.
Respect-paying and memorial ceremoniesfor President Tran Dai Quang are also being held at the Thong Nhat Hall in HoChi Minh City and the Hall of the People’s Committee of Kim Son district, NinhBinh province, the home province of the President.
The nation is observing a two-day nationalmourning for President Quang on September 26 and 27.-VNA
VNA
