At the talks (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Defence Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich on November 20 heldtalks with US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper, who is on an official visit toVietnam from November 19 to 21.
Thetwo sides exchanged views on issues of shared concern and stressed the importanceof maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for development.
Theyagreed to deepen the bilateral defence ties, thus contributing to thecomprehensive partnership between Vietnam and the US.
Thetwo ministers agreed that outcomes of the defence cooperation have met the aspirationsand interests of the two countries’ people, especially in the settlement ofpost-war consequences such as the search for missing-in-action servicemen, bomband mine clearance, Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin remediation, United Nationspeace-keeping operations, training, military medicine and the improvement oflaw enforcement capacity at sea, disaster relief and humanitarian aid.
Thetwo sides will step up cooperation in accordance with the contents of thememorandum of understanding on promoting defence collaboration signed in 2011,the joint vision statement on defence cooperation inked in 2015 and thecooperation plan for 2018-2020, focusing on high-ranking delegation exchange,consultation and dialogue mechanisms and joint work to address post-warconsequences.
Inthe immediate future, they will join hands in implementing the project ondioxin remediation at Bien Hoa airport, search and rescue, disaster relief andhumanitarian aid, maritime security, military medicine, and English languagetraining. The two sides will also research the demand for cooperation indefence industry, and UN peace-keeping operations.
TheUS Defence Secretary’s visit to Vietnam, from November 19-21, aims to realisecooperation agreements in national defence between the two countries,contributing to enhancing the friendship and mutual understanding between theirarmies and people./.
VNA
