At the event, General Chanyalat congratulated General Giang on being appointed Defense Minister and thanked the Vietnamese defense ministry for providing timely support for the Lao defense ministry in COVID-19 prevention and control by sending experts and medical supplies to Laos.
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Vietnamese Minister of National Defense Sen. Lt. Gen. Phan Van Giang at the online talk with his Lao counterpart Gen. Chansamone Chanyalath. |
For his part, General Giang congratulated General Chanyalath on his appointments as Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
He expressed his sympathy towards the Lao people over the difficulties they are currently facing due to COVID-19, and lauded the efforts of the Lao Government, army and people in overcoming these difficult times to quickly stabilize people’s lives.
The Party, State, and military of Vietnam attach special importance to the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation with Laos, with defense and military partnership being a top priority, he stressed.
At the talk, the two defense ministers briefed each other on the socio-economic development and defense-security situation in their countries.
They agreed that amid the substantial opportunities and challenges, the Parties, States, militaries, and peoples of both countries should continue to maintain and reinforce their traditional friendship and special solidarity, especially defense cooperation.
Despite the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the defense partnership between the two countries has been thriving, focusing on areas such as border management, COVID-19 prevention and control, and personnel training, they noted.
The two ministers concurred that in the future, as the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to remain a complex issue that will affect the implementation of the signed cooperation plan for 2021, both sides should seek cooperation approaches suitable for the circumstances, focusing on a number of areas, such as Party-political work, personnel training, border management, as well as fight against trans-national crime, smuggling and trade fraud, and illegal border crossings.
They will also support each other at multilateral forums that both sides are engaged in, especially within the framework of ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms.
Translated by Trung Thanh