June 11, 2022 | 18:42 (GMT+7)
Vietnam - U.S. cooperation in overcoming war aftermath boosted
PANO – Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Deputy Defense Minister, on June 10, hosted a reception for U.S. Director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Kelly McKeague.
At the reception, General Chien hailed the contribution of the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to promoting the bilateral cooperation over the past time, affirming that searching for U.S. soldiers missing in action (MIA) can serve as a bridge for the two peoples to understand more about their humanitarian policies.
In 2021, despite the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two sides closely worked together to carry out MIA searching as scheduled with positive outcomes. The Vietnamese side handed over five sets of remains to the U.S. side. In addition, cooperation in dioxin detoxification, mine clearance, collection of remains of Vietnamese martyrs in the war were also actively implemented by both sides.
General Chien underlined that, in the coming time, both sides would beef up MIA cooperation, speed up searching and quickly dealing with remaining MIA cases.
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General Chien presents souvenirs to U.S. Director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Kelly McKeague. |
Meanwhile, General Chien urged the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to propose to the U.S. government to further support Vietnam in overcoming war aftermath, including dioxin detoxification; helping people with disabilities in the provinces affected by Agent Orange/dioxin; surmounting the impacts of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left over from the war on the basis of a memorandum of understanding committed by the U.S. side and cooperation contents in the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in searching and collecting remains of Vietnamese martyrs.
For his part, Mr. Kelly McKeague thanked Vietnamese defense leader for sharing bilateral cooperation outcome in overcoming war aftermath, affirming that MIA has made remarkable contribution to the U.S.-Vietnam relations.
He also underscored that despite the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vietnamese side has actively searched for remains of U.S. soldiers who died during the war in Vietnam, committing to continuing to cooperate with Vietnam in the implementation of this task in the time to come.
Translated by Minh Anh