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General Nguyen Tan Cuong receives Admiral Saito Akira. |
At the meeting, Gen. Cuong affirmed that Vietnam and Japan have a long-standing friendship and share similarities in culture and customs. Notably, the upgrade of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world in 2023 created strong momentum for further cooperation across fields, including defense.
The Vietnamese Chief of General Staff believed that with the foundation built over past decades, together with the high consensus and tireless efforts of the leaders and peoples of both countries, the relationship between Vietnam and Japan will continue to achieve new developments in all areas, in line with the aspirations and common interests of the two peoples, contributing positively to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region.
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The host presents a souvenir to the guest. |
He underlined that bilateral defense cooperation has continued to expand and develop intensively and substantively, serving as one of the key pillars of the bilateral relationship. This has been reflected through major areas of cooperation, such as delegation exchanges and contacts at all levels, especially high-level ones; service-to-service collaboration; personnel training; and war legacy remediation.
The host highly valued the positive and effective cooperation outcomes between the Vietnam People’s Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, focusing on all-level delegation exchanges, training, experience sharing, naval staff officers’ consultations; reciprocal ship visits; and participation in multilateral conferences, seminars, and events hosted by each side. These activities have contributed to improving professional and technical capabilities and enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the two forces.
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General Nguyen Tan Cuong, Admiral Saito Akira and delegates in a group photo |
Gen. Cuong affirmed that the leadership of the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff of Vietnam will always support and create favorable conditions for the two forces to strengthen practical and effective cooperation.
For his part, Admiral Saito Akira highly appreciated the bilateral cooperation relationship, including cooperation between the two defense ministries. He expressed strong agreement with the views of the host and hoped that the cooperation between the two defense ministries in general, and between the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Vietnam People’s Navy in particular, would become increasingly profound.
Translated by Mai Huong