During the talks, Gen. Giang spoke highly of Russia’s preparation and organization of MCIS-11 and Army-2023 and believed that the success of these international events would continue to contribute to strengthening the position and prestige of the Russian Ministry of Defense in particular and the country in general, for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.
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General Phan Van Giang and General Sergei Shoigu |
Affirming the long-standing friendship and traditional relationship between the two countries, the Vietnamese Defense Minister said that Vietnam always attaches great importance to developing the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia in line with the Joint Vision Statement on the Vietnam - Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership by 2030 (signed in November 2021).
For his part, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu affirmed that with the important foundation of the long-standing friendship and win-win cooperation, the two defense ministries have accumulated rich cooperation experience. He thanked the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense for sending the high-level delegation to participate in the international multilateral activities organized by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
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General Phan Van Giang and members of the Vietnamese delegation at the talks |
At the talks, the two ministers assessed that, on the basis of the good traditional friendship, comprehensive strategic partnership and political trust and the care of the state and government leaders of the two countries, the bilateral defense ties have continued to be consolidated and enhanced in a practical and effective manner, consistent with cooperation documents and agreements, especially the Joint Vision Statement on Vietnam - Russia defense cooperation in the 2020 - 2025 period and cooperation mechanisms in such areas as exchange of delegations at all levels, dialogues and consultations, training, military medicine, collaboration between arms and services, scientific research within the framework of the Vietnam - Russia Tropical Center, military news, military history. They have consulted and supported each other at multilateral defense mechanisms and forums, especially ASEAN-led ones, and actively participated in multilateral activities organized by each country's defense ministries.
The two sides agreed to further strengthen coordination and continue to effectively implement cooperation activities, focusing on maintaining important cooperation mechanisms, such as the Deputy Defense Ministerial Strategic Dialogue and the Intergovernmental Coordination Committee on the Vietnam - Russia Tropical Center; effectively implementing the agreed annual defense cooperation plan; participating in and fostering close coordination within the framework of the International Army Games (Army Games); supporting international multilateral activities organized by the defense ministry of each country; strengthening cooperation in training and military history and between arms and services; expanding scientific research cooperation within the framework of the Vietnam - Russia Tropical Center; studying to promote and expand cooperation in United Nations peacekeeping operation, cyber security, logistics and technical supplies in accordance with the needs and capability of each side.
The two ministers believed that the success of the talks would contribute to the continuous development of bilateral defense cooperation, worthy of being an important pillar in the Vietnam – Russia comprehensive strategic partnership.
* On the sidelines of MCIS-11, Defense Minister Phan Van Giang met with his Chinese counterpart Senior Lieutenant General Li Shangfu, during which the Vietnamese officer expressed his sympathy with the Chinese side about great losses of human and assets caused by the recent storm in some localities of China, including Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei.
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Defense Minister General Phan Van Giang meets with his Chinese counterpart Senior Lieutenant General Li Shangfu. |
The two ministers reaffirmed that defense cooperation is one of the important pillars of the Vietnam - China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. They agreed to further bolster defense cooperation in order to actualize the cooperation contents reached by the two countries' senior leaders during the official visit to China by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong in a bid to developing the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two nations in a healthy and stable manner.
The two ministers underlined the importance and significance of the 8th Vietnam-China Border Defense Friendship Exchange slated for September this year and expressed their belief that the program will be a success, contributing to enhancing political trust between the two countries.
The Vietnamese Defense Minister invited his Chinese counterpart to pay an official visit to Vietnam on this occasion.
* On the sidelines of MCIS-11, Gen. Giang also had a meeting with Mongolian Defense Minister Saikhanbayar Gursed to discuss measures to promote defense cooperation between the two countries.
Reported by Ngoc Ha (from Moscow, Russia)
Translated by Tran Hoai