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Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh |
Earlier, the two countries’ defense agencies for external relations had held a consultation on defense cooperation.
At the dialogue, the two sides exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual concern, outcomes of the bilateral defense cooperation and discussed issues related to ASEAN in 2020 when Vietnam becomes the Chair of ASEAN.
Regarding the regional situation, the Australian side underscored the importance of freedom of navigation and aviation and stressed that all disputes in the East Sea (South China Sea) must be settled by peaceful means on the basis of international law, particularly the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS 1982).
Reviewing the bilateral defense cooperation, both sides highly valued the outcomes of the Vietnam-Australia defense cooperation in the past time in line with the Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Defense Cooperation signed by the two defense leaders in 2010 and Joint Vision on Enhancing Bilateral Defense Cooperation signed in 2018. The two sides also considered the bilateral defense cooperation as a highlight in the entire relations between the two countries, contributing to strengthening the Vietnam-Australia strategic partnership.
The two sides agreed to implement the available bilateral mechanisms like dialogue, consultation, and exchange, while expanding cooperation on education and training, participation in UN peacekeeping operations, maritime security. Additionally, the two sides agreed to promote the role and position of servicewomen and gender equality across the military.
The Australian side confirmed that Australia will support and assist the Vietnamese defense organization to successfully organize defense and military events, particularly the ADMM, ADMM+ in 2020 when Vietnam takes the Chair of ASEAN. The host also hoped that Vietnam would support Australia’s idea to host a non-formal ASEAN-Australia defense ministers’ meeting.
On this matter, General Vinh affirmed that the Vietnamese Defense Ministry agreed with the Australia’s idea in principle.
General Vinh also conveyed the invitation from Vietnamese Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich to the Australian Defense Minister to visit Vietnam. The Australian side released that Australian Defense Minister Linda Reynolds will visit Vietnam in 2020.
The two sides agreed to assign relevant under-ministerial defense agencies to prepare for the visit of Australian defense minister to Vietnam.
Translated by Thu Nguyen