Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Defence Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and New Zealand haveagreed to outline a cooperation plan for the next three years with a view toelevating the defence collaboration to a new high, making it on par with thestrategic partnership between the two nations.
The agreement was made at the third Vietnam-New Zealand defence policy dialogueheld via video conference on December 2. Vietnamese Deputy Minister of DefenceSenior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien and Secretary of Defence and ChiefExecutive of the Ministry of Defence of New Zealand Andrew Bridgman co-chairedthe event.
At the dialogue, both sides expressed their pleasure with the two nationscelebrating the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations and theupgrade of the ties to the strategic partnership in 2020. They described thoseas favourable conditions to promote defence cooperation in the fields ofdialogue, consultation, delegation exchange, training, intelligence, UN peacekeeping activities, maritime security, and COVID-19 pandemic prevention andcontrol.
They agreed to study the organisation of annual meetings at ministerial levelon the occasion of official visits and on the sidelines of multilateral eventsfrom next year.
Regarding multilateral cooperation, Chien highlighted outcomes of themultilateral defence activities hosted by Vietnam in the role as the ASEANChair and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, thereby affirming Vietnam’sefforts in maintaining and promoting cooperation momentum within the frameworkof the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM Plus for mutual benefitsof ASEAN and its partners.
Meanwhile, Andrew laid stress on New Zealand’s support for the centre role ofASEAN, and spoke highly of Vietnam’s initiatives for the region in the pasttime.
Touching on regional and international issues of mutual interest, both sideswere unanimous about the common perception on the principle of respectinginternational law, the settlement of disputes via peaceful means, and no use offorce or threat to use force.
Chien took the occasion to thank New Zealand’s defence ministry for its timelysupport for Vietnam in recent storms and floods.
He said he respected the New Zealand government’s assistance worth 117,000 USDfor Vietnam to overcome consequences of natural disasters./.
VNA
