Vietnam, Australia hold second defense policy dialogue

Warmly welcoming Mr. Tom Hamilton, Gen. Lich believed that the visit will contribute to further promoting bilateral defense relations between the two countries. Vietnam attaches importance to the bilateral defense ties with Australia, and hopes that the cooperation will be further expanded, said General Ngo Xuan Lich.

Gen. Lich (R) and Acting Deputy Secretary for Strategic Policy and Intelligence at the Australian Department of Defense Tom Hamilton

For his part, Tom Hamilton expressed his pleasure at the growing Vietnam-Australia bilateral defense. According to him, the Australia's support in transporting equipment and personnel of Vietnam’s level-two field hospital to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan is a highlight in the defense cooperation between the two countries. He affirmed that the Australian Defense Force has pledged to help the Vietnam People's Army improve its capacity to participate in UN peacekeeping operations. He also informed General Ngo Xuan Lich of key outcomes of the second Vietnam-Australia Defense Policy Dialogue.

* Earlier, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, member of the Party Central Committee, permanent member of the Military Central Commission, Deputy Minister of National Defense, and Mr. Tom Hamilton co-chaired the second Vietnam-Australia Defense Policy Dialogue at the headquarters of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense.

At the working session

The dialogue took place when the two countries are celebrating the 45th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties and 20 years of bilateral defense relations, and after their ties were upgraded to the level of strategic partnership in March 2018.

The two sides discussed a number of issues of mutual concern, including non-traditional security threats, the development orientations of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+) in the buildup to the 10th anniversary of the defense cooperation mechanism in 2020, and the enhancement of regional security through UN cooperation mechanisms.

Both sides agreed that the two militaries should continue implementing practical and effective defense cooperation in line with the Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral defense cooperation signed by the two sides with a focus on exchanging high-ranking delegations, improving both quantity and quality of personnel training cooperation, sharing field experiences in UN peacekeeping operations, and expanding cooperation in maritime security.

Translated by Lam Anh