The scene at the talks between Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh and Peter Tesch, Deputy Secretary for Strategic Policy & Intelligence at Australia’s Department of Defence (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Deputy Minister of National DefenceSen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh, on June 16, engaged in two online talks withJody Thomas, Deputy Minister of Canada’s Department of National Defence, and PeterTesch, Deputy Secretary for Strategic Policy & Intelligence at Australia’sDepartment of Defence.
Canadian and Australian ambassadors and military attaches to Vietnam also took part in the talks.
During the talks, Vinh informed the Australian and Canadianofficials on the COVID-19 situation in Vietnam, attributing the good outcomesin controlling the disease to concerted efforts of the entire political system,with the Vietnam People’s Army serving as the core and vanguard force.
Highlighting the importance of international collaborationin the fight against the pandemic, he thanked Australian and Canadian defencebodies’ cooperation in sharing information on COVID-19 prevention, control,research and treatment. He hoped the joint work will last for long given theCOVID-19 complexities.
On the occasion, Vinh and his counterparts reviewed outcomesof Vietnam – Australia and Vietnam – Canada defence ties in the past time andsought agreement on future orientations with a stress on military medicalcoordination in disease prevention and control. All sides vowed that they willnot allow the pandemic to hinder their thriving cooperation.
At the talks with Jody Thomas, Deputy Minister of Canada’s Department of National Defence (Photo: VNA)The Vietnamese and Canadian officials expressed theirdelight at breakthroughs in the relations of the sides after their defenceministers exchanged visits, particularly in human resources training and UNpeace keeping mission.
The Canadian side said it plans to set up a military attachéoffice in Vietnam this year, and the two sides agreed to push for theestablishment of a bilateral defence policy dialogue mechanism toward buildinga 3-year cooperation scheme for the two defence ministries.
Meanwhile, Vietnam and Australia took note of outstandingjoint work, such as Australian military aircraft, for the second time,transporting personnel of Vietnam’s level-2 field hospital to South Sudan forpeacekeeping mission. The sides also began teaming up to organise activities insearching for Vietnamese soldiers going missing during wartime, shooting skillsexchanges; and discussions on women, peace and security.
Vinh stated Vietnam’s Defence Ministry is committed to the effectiveimplementation of defence cooperation with Australia and Canada based on signeddocuments and agreements for the benefit of the sides involved and of theregion.
The official also informed his counterparts on the scheduleof activities during the year Vietnam serves as Chair of ASEAN (2020) and itstenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (2020-2021).
He highlighted Vietnam’s determination in strengtheningcollaboration within the framework of the ASEAN Defence Minister’s Meeting(ADMM) and ADMM Plus.
He stressed Vietnam backs Canada’s responsible participationin the region in line with ASEAN’s consensus principle and praised Australia’ssuccess in hosting the first informal ASEAN – Australia defence ministers’meeting./.
VNA
