April 03, 2019 | 22:33 (GMT+7)
Vietnamese and Lao military units push up collaboration
PANO – The 29th joint co-ordination conference between Military Region (MR) 5 of the Vietnam People’s Army and Lao Infantry Division 5, military commands of four Southern Lao provinces and the Vieng Xai Training School for the Enlisted No.2 of the Lao People's Army was held on April 1 in Champasak province, Laos.
Colonel Van Thoong Buthavong, Commander of Infantry Division 5 and Lieutenant General Nguyen Long Cang, MR 5 Commander, co-chaired the conference.
Over the past time, the two countries’ units have organized a number of meetings to exchange information and promote coordination in detecting and dealing with unexpected issues on political security in the areas where they are stationed. Notably, both sides promptly mobilized search and rescue forces to help people in Sanamxai district, Attapeu province to overcome the aftermath of the collapse of the Sepien-Senamnoi hydropower dam. The support was highly appreciated by the Party, Government, people and Ministry of Defense of Laos.
Accordingly, the MR5 Command has sent seven missions to provide health check-ups and medicines, present gifts, and repair houses for poor people in Southern provinces of Laos. The Vietnamese military region also assisted Lao units in building eight friendship monuments, worth VND 18.9 billion. Meanwhile, Lao units have provided effective assistance for the Vietnamese units to search and repatriate remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and specialists fallen in wartime in Laos.
In the coming time, the two sides agreed to continue spreading information and raising awareness among their troops and young people of preserving and cultivating the special friendship and solidarity, as well as comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, thus contributing to maintaining political stability, security, and social order and safety in each country, and building a Vietnam-Laos borderline of peace, friendship, stability and development.
Regarding orientations for bilateral coordination between the two sides in the coming time, leaders of the Vietnamese and Lao military units agreed that the Lao units will create conditions for MR 5 to search and repatriate remains of fallen Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and specialists in Laos, while the Vietnamese unit will cooperate with their Lao partners to host border defense friendship exchanges among the three Indochinese countries.
Translated by Lam Anh