PANO - Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) General Do Ba Ty received Air Chief Marshal Stuart Peach, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff of the United Kingdom (UK) of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in his ongoing visit to Vietnam at the Ministry’s headquarters on November 4th.

At the reception, General Do Ba Ty hailed this first visit of a military leader of the UK and confirmed it marked the new development in the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two ministries and the two armies.

General Do Ba Ty receiving Air Chief Marshal Stuart Peach

The Vietnamese general highly appreciated the outcome of the earlier talks between the guest and Lieutenant General Vo Van Tuan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff. He expressed his belief that exchanges between the two armies’ leaders would importantly boost mutual understanding and contribute to the enhancement of bilateral cooperation.

The Vietnamese Chief of the General Staff also stressed the positive cooperation between the two ministries and two armies over the past time, and noted that it has not fully tapped the potential of the two sides.

He suggested that the two sides should continue to effectively implement the MoU on the bilateral cooperation ties inked in November 2011, promote the bilateral working group on defence ties, as well as step up exchanges to put forward the signing of cooperation agreements on training, defence industry and peacekeeping.

To be in line with the two countries’ strategic partnership, the two sides should pay close attention to and boost cooperation in constructive fields such as; marine security, training, cyber security, information technology, UN peacekeeping operations; and in humanitarian fields, including search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and support of Vietnam in the clearance of post-war unexploded ordnances.

Agreeing with the Vietnamese general’s suggestions, the guest said that the UK would keep giving support to Vietnam and stressed that the supported fields are important, contributing to promoting the two countries’ defence ties in a practical and effective manner.

Lieutenant General Vo Van Tuan and Air Marshal Stuart Peach chairing the talks

Earlier the same day, Lieutenant General Vo Van Tuan, Chief of the General Staff of the VPA held talks with Air Marshal Stuart Peach.

During the talks, they exchanged issues of common concern in the region and the rest of the world.

Regarding the two countries’ defence ties, both affirmed the strong development in all fields, including exchanges of delegations at all levels and training which was considered a bright point.

They also agreed that the two sides should concentrate on carrying out the signed cooperation deals, making contributions to further developing the two countries’ ties to be in line with their interests and to contribute to peace and stability in the world.

Translated by Mai Huong