* On the afternoon of November 13, General Cuong paid a courtesy call to Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, Defense Minister of India, in New Delhi.
Welcoming General Cuong and the Vietnamese delegates, Ms. Sitharaman underlined that the Vietnamese visit will cement their bilateral traditional relationship.
Senior Lieutenant General Luong Cuong meets Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
She highly spoke of Vietnam’s role and contributions to the region in various fields, adding that Vietnam and India should continue to uphold recorded defense cooperation outcomes and to carry out signed agreements, including the Declaration on Joint Vision on Vietnam-India Defense Cooperation for the 2015-2020 period.
For his part, General Cuong thanked Ms. Sitharaman for the reception and conveyed a message of General Ngo Xuan Lich, Vietnamese Minister of National Defense, inquiring after the Indian Defense Minister.
The Vietnamese general held that their visit to India is taking place at a time when Vietnam and India are marking the 45th year of diplomatic ties and 10th years of strategic partnership.
He affirmed that Vietnam’s Party, State and Army always place importance on the bilateral traditional relations, cultivated by generations of leaders and peoples of both countries, and believed that India will considerably contribute to the environment of peace, stability and development in the region as well as to the regional security mechanisms.
Furthermore, General Lich asked the Indian Defense Ministry to continue to support the bilateral defense cooperation to expand the two countries’ strategic partnership.
* Previously, a formal reception for the Vietnamese delegation took place at the Headquarters of the Indian Defense Ministry. Later, General Cuong had talks with G. Mohan Kumar, Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Defense.
Mr. Kumar emphasized the sound traditional relationship between the two peoples and militaries and hoped that Vietnam and India will continue to bring the bilateral relations, including defense cooperation, to a new height in the coming time.
Meanwhile, General Cuong stressed that Vietnam and India have a long history of traditional ties, which were founded by the two great leaders, President Ho Chi Minh and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and that traditional relationship has been constantly developing through Vietnam’s national construction and defense cause.
India is a trust-worthy, close and loyal friend of Vietnam and Vietnam is glad to see India’s socio-economic development and its growing position in the region and the world as well, he added.
At the talks, both sides agreed that Vietnam and India should continue to expand their friendship and cooperation, including defense cooperation, for the sake of the people in particular and for peace, stability, development and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond in general.
General Cuong and Mr. Kumar also exchanged comments on regional and international issues of mutual concern. They also reviewed and expressed delight at recent positive bilateral defense developments, namely delegation exchanges, meetings for young officers, cooperation between services and arms, peacekeeping operations, education and training, and strategic study. They shared experiences on building up armed forces, and conducting policies to officers, their families, and beneficiaries.
In order to further augment their defense relations in the future, General Cuong suggested the two sides to effectively implement their Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation as well as their Declaration on Joint Vision on Defense Cooperation for the 2015-2020 period.
Additionally, General Cuong also informed the hosts about organizations, functions, and tasks of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army, adding that Vietnamese soldiers always train hard to improve their competencies and combat readiness along with their firm political stance.
* On the morning of the same day, the Vietnamese military high-ranking delegation laid a wreath at the India Gate war memorial in New Delhi.
In the evening, Vietnamese delegates joined a banquet hosted by the Defense Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Defense.
Translated by Van Hieu