The meeting took place in the complicated situation of the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
According to Lieutenant General Vu Chien Thang, Director of the Department of External Affair under the Ministry of National Defense (MND), in realizing the MND’s instructions, relevant Vietnamese agencies actively consulted other countries about the initiatives to issue a joint statement on defense cooperation against COVID-19, which received the support of participating countries.
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The ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Retreat (ADMM Retreat), one of the main ASEAN defense and military activities and conferences hosted by Vietnam in 2020, has ended successfully. |
The initiative was submitted to the ASEAN Defense Senior Officers' Meeting (ADSOM) head delegates who agreed to put the content on ADMM Retreat’s agenda. The joint statement by the ASEAN defense ministers on defense cooperation against COVID-19 was adopted at the ADMM Retreat, which took place from February 18 to 20 in Hanoi.
General Thang said that participating countries agreed to promote defense cooperation in responding to COVID-19 on the basis of ASEAN’s initiatives and mechanisms, including the ASEAN Center Of Military Medicine, the ASEAN Chiefs of Military Medicine Conference, ASEAN Military Medicine Conference, and the network of ASEAN Chemical, Biological and Radiological Defense Experts. “This demonstrates the countries’ response to new challenges in line with the ASEAN Year 2020 theme, “Cohesive and Responsive,” proposed by Vietnam,” Thang said.
Meanwhile, Major General Vu Tien Trong, Director of Institute for Defense International Relations, evaluated that the quick ratification of the joint statement on defense cooperation against COVID-19 demonstrated the response of ASEAN member countries to current non-traditional security challenges, especially amid the spread of COVID-19 which no country can singlehandedly handle.
General Trong said that the document was highly appreciated by not only ASEAN member states, but also other Asian countries. He cited the ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi’s evaluation that the statement was agreed on in a remarkably short space of time, less than two days. “The statement showed ASEAN defense ministers’ acumen and responsiveness, thus meeting ASEAN people’s expectation that this epidemic will soon be contained,” Trong added.
Regarding medical services during the ADMM Retreat, Major General Nguyen Xuan Kien, Director of the Department of Military Medicine under the General Department of Logistics, said that in response to the complicated development of COVID-19, the MND considered disease prevention a top mission. Defense agencies and units have developed detailed plans to provide the best medical services to delegates and supporting teams at the meeting.
Thanks to timely and effective measures, agencies and units ensured absolute safety for delegates to ADMM Retreat, Kien said.
Translated by Tran Hoai