Exercise to contribute to Vietnam-India friendship

On the occasion, Senior Captain Nguyen Van Ngan, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Naval Region 4 Command and head of the Vietnamese naval delegation, granted an interview to reporters of the People Army’s Newspaper.

Naval officers control Frigate 016-Quang Trung.

In the conversation, Senior Captain Nguyen Van Ngan emphasized the significance of Vietnam’s participation in MILAN 2022. He said that although the COVID-19 pandemic is raging the world, including India, Vietnam has accepted India’s invitation to participate in the exercise. The country’s participation in the event demonstrates its support to activities hosted by the Indian Navy as well as requites the Indian Navy’s enthusiastic and effective assistance to the Vietnam People’s Navy over the past time.

He added that Vietnam’s attendance in the multinational naval exercise will contribute to consolidating and strengthening the friendship and cooperation between the two militaries in general and the two navies in particular. It is one of the highlight activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties, contributing to further promoting the Vietnam-India comprehensive strategic partnership. 

According to the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Naval Region 4 Command, through the exercise, Vietnam expects to contribute to the common efforts in dealing with regional and international maritime security issues. In particular, the Vietnam People’s Navy will continue raising its capability in coordinating with other participating navies to deal with common maritime security challenges in line with viewpoints of the Central Military Commission and Defense Ministry’s leaders on international integration and defense external relations. The Vietnamese naval force will help strengthen friendship, mutual understanding and trust among participating militaries and navies for regional and international peace, stability, cooperation and development.

The head of the Vietnamese delegation added that a training session will be held during the long voyage to India in an effort to enhance Vietnamese naval troops’ coordination, combat readiness capability, as well as their ability to master weapons and equipment. The team will also learn more experience in joining and hosting international events and keep close watch on the developments at sea. 

As a person leading Vietnamese naval delegations to take part in various international naval events, Senior Captain Nguyen Van Ngan highly appreciated Vietnamese naval troops’ performance at various exercises. He recalled that their coordination during events was highly appreciated by other participating countries. One of the recent achievements obtained by the Vietnam People’s Navy was the silver medal at the “Sea Cup” contest of the Army Games 2021. The achievement contributed to affirming competence of the Vietnamese naval troops in the international arena. 

Translated by Tran Hoai