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General Phan Van Giang and General Khamliang Outhakaysone review the guards-of-honor of the Viet Nam People's Army. |
General Khamliang Outhakaysone is paying an official visit to Viet Nam and attending the annual meeting of the three defense ministers and the joint civil defense exercise involving the armed forces of Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia in 2026.
Following the welcome ceremony, the two generals held talks to review bilateral defense cooperation and discuss future priorities.
General Phan Van Giang emphasized that, following the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the 12th National Congress of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, senior leaders of the two parties and states had exchanged visits and held meetings to provide strategic direction for bilateral cooperation. These engagements reaffirmed the special relationship between Viet Nam and Laos, strengthened defense and security cooperation, and promoted trade, investment, infrastructure connectivity, education and training, and people-to-people exchanges.
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General Phan Van Giang and General Khamliang Outhakaysone view photographs documenting Viet Nam-Laos relations. |
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General Khamliang Outhakaysone writes in the guest book at the Vietnamese MND headquarters. |
These developments reflected the high level of political trust and the importance both sides attach to their relationship, demonstrating the determination of the two countries’ senior leaders to make Viet Nam-Laos cooperation increasingly close, substantive, and effective. They also helped translate the concept of “strategic cohesion” into concrete action in bilateral relations. The leaders of both countries affirmed that their ministries of national defense and militaries would continue to be vanguard forces to realize the goals and vision for developing Viet Nam-Laos relations in the new situation.
General Phan Van Giang noted that defense cooperation between Viet Nam and Laos had achieved significant and increasingly substantive results, serving as one of the key pillars of bilateral relations. The two sides have effectively implemented activities under their cooperation plan in 2026, particularly in information and public awareness campaigns, coordination in border management and protection, and personnel training and development.
Major defense diplomacy events have also been held, including the sixth Viet Nam-Laos Defense Policy Dialogue, the third Viet Nam-Laos Border Defense Friendship Exchange, and exchanges between young officers of the two armed forces. These diverse activities, with people at their center, have helped strengthen public awareness of the enduring solidarity and loyalty between Viet Nam and Laos.
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General Phan Van Giang and the Vietnamese delegation at the talks |
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General Khamliang Outhakaysone and the Lao delegation at the talks |
For his part, General Khamliang Outhakaysone emphasized that the visit provided an opportunity to further deepen the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation, and strategic cohesion between the two countries in general and their ministries of national defense in particular. He expressed satisfaction with the positive and effective results achieved in bilateral defense cooperation across various fields in recent years.
General Phan Van Giang and General Khamliang Outhakaysone agreed to direct their respective agencies and units to pro-actively and actively implement the agreed cooperation agenda. Key priorities would include exchanges of delegations at all levels, particularly high-level visits; effective implementation of consultation and dialogue mechanisms; and cooperation in party and political work to build armed forces that are politically-, ideologically-, and organizationally-strong, loyal, and trustworthy forces of their respective parties, states, and peoples.
Other priorities would include cooperation in border management and protection; the search for, recovery, and repatriation of the remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and advisors who died in Laos during past wars; defense industry cooperation; and stronger consultations and mutual support at multilateral forums, alongside cooperation among the militaries of Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia.
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General Phan Van Giang and General Khamliang Outhakaysone sign the Viet Nam-Laos Defense Cooperation Plan for 2027. |
Both sides also reaffirmed the importance of human resource training, identifying it as a critical priority of strategic significance in the long term. This work would serve as a cornerstone for consolidating the special relationship between the two countries and their militaries.
At the talks, General Phan Van Giang and General Khamliang Outhakaysone signed the Viet Nam-Laos Defense Cooperation Plan for 2027.
Translated by Tran Hoai