The event is held annually by the two defense ministries to evaluate bilateral defense cooperation results over the past year and map out orientations for the upcoming years.
At the consultation, the two sides agreed that the two defense ministries have accelerated defense ties amid the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Particularly, the two defense ministers had bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the informal meeting between the Defense Ministers of ASEAN member countries and Australia in Hanoi in Feb., 2020, and the online talks at the deputy defense ministerial level in July, 2020 to discuss defense cooperation amid the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, the two sides valued their practical collaboration over past year in fields such as delegation exchange, consultation, dialogue, training, U.N. peacekeeping operations, counter-terrorism, and so on.
They planned to continuously hold delegation exchanges at all levels, maintain annual dialogues and consultations, enhance collaboration in U.N. peacekeeping operations, share experience in counter-terrorism, air force and military medicine, to name but a few.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Huge Jeffrey held that the Australian side will continue to help Vietnam transport servicemen and equipment of the Level-two Field Hospital (L2FH) Rotation 3 to South Sudan, and bring members of the L2FH Rotation 2 home.
On the occasion, Gen. Thang briefed the Australian official on the results of previous defense activities and the upcoming events hosted by Vietnam when the country undertake the roles of ASEAN Chair in 2020 and a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term. The Vietnamese defense official also highlighted the country’s efforts in maintaining and accelerating cooperation within the framework of the ADMDM/ADMM+ for the mutual benefits of ASEAN and its partners.
At the end of the consultation, the two sides agreed on the content of the discussion, which will be proposed to the virtual 4th Vietnam-Australia Defense Policy Dialogue scheduled on December 3.
Translated by Trung Thanh