The signing ceremony was in the framework of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit to Brazil.
This was the first time the two defense ministries signed an agreement on defense cooperation, laying an important foundation for the two countries to carry out contents in such defense cooperation fields as delegation exchange, training, U.N. peacekeeping, military medicine, military trade, defense industry, among others.
The same day, Sr. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien met with Admiral Renato Rodrigues de Aguilar Freire, Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Brazil, during which the two sides spoke highly of the importance of the MoU, saying that it helps foster the two countries’ comprehensive partnership.
They said that that was the first high-level contact of the leadership of the two defense ministries and militaries since 2003 when the Vietnamese Minister of National Defense paid an official visit to Brazil.
At the meeting, Gen. Chien talked about Vietnam’s foreign and defense policy, stressing the country’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, multilateralization, diversification, and “Four Nos” defense policy. He stressed that Vietnam is persistent with addressing disagreements in the East Sea (South China Sea) by peaceful means on the basis of international laws, including UNCLOS 1982.
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At the meeting between Sr. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien and Admiral Renato Rodrigues de Aguilar Freire |
Both sides agreed to assign authorized agencies of the two defense ministries to build a plan to realize the MoU with priority given to exchange of all-level delegations, training, U.N. peacekeeping, and defense industry. They also reached consensus on considering the establishment of the dialogue-consultation mechanism and the signing of an MoU on peacekeeping cooperation.
Gen. Chien invited the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and military of Brazil and the country’s defense enterprises to attend the Vietnam International Defense Expo next year.
Translated by Mai Huong