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Sr. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman |
The Vietnamese deputy defense minister expressed his hope while receiving U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on June 13 at the headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense.
At the meeting, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien confirmed that Vietnam always considers the U.S. one of its leading important partners in its foreign policy.
He added that despites the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the bilateral relations have been maintained through visits by high-ranking leaders.
The Vietnamese general took this chance to thank the U.S. for donating COVID-19 vaccines and other medical equipment to the country.
General Chien spoke highly of the bilateral defense relationship over the past time, saying that it has been implemented in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Enhancing Bilateral Defense Cooperation signed in 2011 and the Declaration of the Joint Visions on Defense Cooperation signed in 2015, and reaped remarkable outcomes in the fields of settlement of war consequences, consultation, exchange of high-ranking delegations, training, search and rescue, U.N. peacekeeping operations, and military medicine, among others.
Stressing that Vietnam always prioritizes and pays due attention to strengthening the cooperation in war legacy settlement with the U.S., General Chien pointed out several outstanding achievements in the field, contributing to healing the wounds of war and boosting trust between the two countries. They include the completion of the dioxin decontamination project at Da Nang Airport, the continuous implementation of the same project at Bien Hoa Airport, the communications project on overcoming consequences of post-war bombs and mines and toxic chemicals, and the realization of the MoU on the settlement of aftermath of unexploded ordnance and joint search and repatriation of remains of fallen Vietnamese soldiers.
The Vietnamese deputy defense minister hoped that in the coming time, the U.S. will prioritize speeding up the first stage of the project on dioxin remediation at Bien Hoa Airport, supporting the implementation of the MoU on collaboration in collecting and repatriating remains of fallen Vietnamese troops, and improvement of Vietnam’s U.N. peacekeeping capacity.
For her part, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman reaffirmed that cooperation in war consequence settlement is a foundation of the relationship between the two countries. She highly appreciated the two sides’ cooperation outcomes in dioxin decontamination, bomb and mine clearance and support for Vietnamese people with disabilities.
The U.S. diplomat also stressed that in bilateral defense ties, the U.S. will continue to assist Vietnam in training and improving its U.N. peacekeeping capacity.
Translated by Mai Huong