The Vietnamese delegation to the event is led by Defense Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich.
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Gen. Lich speaks at the 17th Shangri-La Dialogue |
Addressing the opening session, Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi emphasized that the trade in the region is growing significantly and that competition is normal in the international trade and economic playground but it should not turn into dispute or conflict.
Regarding the importance of maritime transportation routes in the region, particularly those in the East Sea (South China Sea), to international trade he said, “Global transit routes should remain peaceful and free for all.”
He said, India attaches much importance to promoting relations with ASEAN, and highly values the bloc’s central role in regional multilateral mechanisms. “I see ASEAN as an inspiration,” he said. He underscored that ASEAN’s unity is essential for this region to prosper, so ASEAN’s unity must be supported. “ASEAN lies at the heart of the new Indo-Pacific,” PM Modi said. He said that ASEAN is required for a stable world and this entity is not aligned against anyone.
The speech of PM Modi was of great interest and was applauded by delegates at the 17th Shangri-La.
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General Ngo Xuan Lich had bilateral meetings with US Defense Secretary James Mattis |
On the sidelines of the dialogue, the Vietnamese Head of Delegation, General Ngo Xuan Lich had several bilateral meetings with US Defense Secretary James Mattis, New Zealander Defense Minister Ron Mark, UK Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson, and Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Heng.
At the meeting between Vietnamese Defense Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich and US Defense Secretary James Mattis, the two sides expressed delight at the practical outcomes of the bilateral defense cooperation in accordance with the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership, contributing to peace and stability in the region and world.
The US Defense Secretary thanked the Vietnamese side for hosting and giving such a warm reception to US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson when it visited the Vietnamese central city of Da Nang in March 2018. He also said that the US side applauds Vietnam’s voice in the region and world and will support Vietnam’s Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2020. He also highly valued Vietnam’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations.
The two top defense officials agreed to step up the implementation of the cooperation contents signed by the two sides, of which the two sides should prioritize cooperation in overcoming the war remnants of unexploded ordinance (UXOs) in Vietnam while maintaining dialogue mechanisms and exchanges of high-level delegations.
General Lich applauded the US side for its active cooperation in the project to deal with dioxin pollution in Bien Hoa airport, in southern Vietnam as well as for its support for Vietnam’s future deployment of a level 2 field hospital and a military engineering company to UN peacekeeping missions on request.
The US Defense Secretary suggested the two sides expand cooperation on defense industry by signing deals at first, as a basis for further practical cooperation activities. He said that the US side is currently considering transferring training aircraft and other equipment to Vietnam.
Regarding this issue, General Lich said that relevant defense agencies of both sides should go into details and then submit the project to defense leaders of the two countries for further consideration.
At his meeting with New Zealander Defense Minister Ron Mark, General Lich expressed his delight at the fine developments in the Vietnam-New Zealand relations as well as in the bilateral defense ties over the past time.
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Gen. Lich holds talk with New Zealander Defense Minister Ron Mark |
Recently, the two sides exchanged delegations at all levels and actively supported each other in multilateral fora. Particularly, the visits of naval ships and cooperation in training in English for Vietnamese military personnel to be posted to UN peacekeeping missions have contributed positively to the bilateral defense ties.
The two top defense leaders agreed to expand defense cooperation based on the strengths and demands of the two sides, with a focus on cyber security, search and rescue and participation in UN peacekeeping operations.
The New Zealander Defense Minister invited his Vietnamese counterpart to visit New Zealand, and General Lich happily accepted the invitation and also invited his New Zealander counterpart to visit Vietnam at a convenient time.
At the bilateral meeting between General Lich and the UK Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson, the two sides hailed recent good outcomes of the bilateral defense cooperation in exchanges of delegations, personnel training and experience-sharing and support for Vietnamese military contingent to be deployed to UN peacekeeping operations.
Particularly, General Lich thanked the UK Ministry of Defense when it supports the Vietnamese level-2 field hospital to replace its own level-2 field hospital operating at the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan.
To expand the defense cooperation on a par with the UK-Vietnam strategic partnership, the two defense ministers agreed that the two sides should increase delegation exchanges, effectively implement dialogue mechanisms, sign more cooperation deals in various fields, support each other in multilateral for a, promote joint scientific and technological research and enhance cooperation in UN peacekeeping operations.
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General Lich and the UK Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson |
The UK Defense Secretary said that the UK side supports Vietnam to quickly and expeditiously deploy its level-2 field hospital to South Sudan and pledged to provide favorable conditions for the Vietnamese level-2 field hospital to deploy and operate successfully in South Sudan.
General Lich requested the UK side to continue to provide training in English for Vietnamese military personnel and said that the Vietnamese Defense Ministry is ready to welcome UK military officers to training courses held in Vietnam.
At his meeting with the Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Heng, the Vietnamese Defense Minister congratulated the Singaporean Defense Minister and Army as the Chairmanship of ASEAN on their successful organization of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Retreat and ASEAN Chiefs-of-Defense Forces Informal Meeting. He also believed that Singapore will complete superbly its ASEAN Chairmanship 2018, contributing to promoting the central role of ASEAN in regional mechanisms.
“Vietnam supports the initiatives of Singapore as the Chair of ASEAN in 2018,” the Vietnamese Defense Minister said. He also thanked the Singaporean side for granting scholarships for Vietnamese personnel to study in the country.
The two top defense officials agreed that the defense relations between Vietnam and Singapore are proceeding on the right tracks. Since 2009 when the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on bilateral defense cooperation, the bilateral defense ties have seen a lot of positive developments and practical outcomes.
At this point, relevant agencies of the two sides are actively working on cooperation contents of the MOU as well as on the agreements reached by the two sides during the Singapore visit of General Lich in 2016. The cooperation contents which were the focus of the two sides include delegation exchange, exchanges of young officers, cooperation between the two sides’ naval service, air force, military medicine sector and strategic study agencies and support for each other at multilateral fora.
General Lich proposed that Singapore would support Vietnam when it takes on the Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2020.
Today (June 2), the Vietnamese Defense Minister made a speech at the third plenary session entitled “Shaping Asia’s envolving security order”.
Report by Thu Trang from Singapore
Translated by Thu Nguyen