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An overview of the reception |
General Nguyen Tan Cuong, Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Defense Minister, expressed his hope during a reception for the Cuban ambassador on November 14 at the headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense. The guest came to say goodbye as he finished his tenure in Vietnam.
At the meeting, the Vietnamese defense leader emphasized that the special traditional friendship between the two countries has developed positively, practically, and intensively in various areas, contributing to peace, stability, and development in the region and the world. He also mentioned the state visit to Cuba by Party General Secretary To Lam in September this year, saying that it helped strengthen the two countries’ cooperative ties across all fields, including economy, politics, defense, security, culture, and education.
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General Nguyen Tan Cuong presents a souvenir to the Cuban Ambassador |
General Cuong confirmed that defense cooperation is one of the important pillars in the two countries’ relations, which has received due attention from both countries’ senior leaders. On the basis of the defense cooperation plan for the 2023-2025 period, the two sides have effectively carried out cooperation activities with an emphasis on all-level delegation exchanges, particularly high level ones, Party and political work, training, military medicine, and twinning activities.
Noting that next year the two countries will celebrate 65 years of their diplomatic ties, General Cuong said that the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense is willing to promote its close ties with the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, thereby developing the special traditional friendship of the two countries that was built by President Ho Chi Minh and Cuban leader Fidel Castro, and has been cultivated by generations of leaders and people of the two countries.
Regarding the 80th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army, 35 years of the Whole People’s Defense Festive Day, and the second Vietnam International Defense Expo in this December, General Cuong hoped to welcome leaders of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces to these events in Vietnam.
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General Nguyen Tan Cuong, Ambassador Orlando Nicholas Hernández Guillén, and other delegates in a group photo |
For his part, Cuban Ambassador Orlando Nicholas Hernández Guillén said that he was touched by the sentiments that the people of both countries have held for each other over the past years and that the Vietnamese Ministry held for him during his tenure.
Speaking highly of the importance of defense ties in the Cuba-Vietnam relations, the diplomat stressed that in any posts he would exert efforts to accelerate the two countries’ relations in general and the bilateral defense cooperation in particular.
Translated by Mai Huong