At the talk, the two sides held that the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their cooperation plan since the beginning of 2020. However, both sides have found collaboration approaches suitable to the situation, and gained practical outcomes in several key areas, including transferring credit support from the Indian Government to the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, personnel training, and supporting each other in pandemic prevention and control.
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Defense Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Phan Van Giang at the talk |
Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh thanked Vietnam for supporting his country in the pandemic fight, and congratulated General Giang on his appointment as Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission. He affirmed that in his new post, General Giang will make practical and effective contributions to the bilateral cooperation as well as the relations between the two militaries.
In turn, General Giang thanked his Indian counterpart for sending a congratulatory letter to him on his appointment as Vietnamese Minister of National Defense. He stated that the two countries’ close cooperation will contribute to expanding the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and India.
The Vietnamese defense minister expressed his deep sympathy toward the losses that Indian people have suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stressing his belief that with its drastic measures, India will overcome this distressing time.
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Scene of the virtual talk from Hanoi. |
They agreed that in the future, both sides should strengthen exchanges at both high and working levels to fully implement all the established cooperation mechanisms and signed agreements, focusing on personnel training, credit package implementation, coordination among armed forces, defense industry, UN peacekeeping operations, COVID-19 fighting, and coordination in settling common security issues at multilateral forums.
Vietnam supports India’s Act East Policy as well as the country’s cooperation with ASEAN, contributing to maintaining peace, security, stability and development in the region and the world on the basis of respect to international law.
Translated by Trung Thanh