General Nguyen Tan Cuong affirmed that Vietnam always considers the U.S. one of its important partners. He highlighted that, building on the positive momentum of bilateral relations, the Vietnam - U.S. defense cooperation has recently been implemented effectively and practically across various areas, including overcoming war-left consequences, dialogue and consultation, training, U.N. peacekeeping operations, inter-service cooperation, military medicine, defense industry, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
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General Nguyen Tan Cuong receives Admiral Samuel Paparo. |
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General Nguyen Tan Cuong introduces members of the Vietnam delegation to Admiral Samuel Paparo. |
General Nguyen Tan Cuong stressed that Vietnam attaches importance to and prioritizes cooperation in overcoming war-left consequences in the spirit of “shelving the past and looking to the future.” He thanked the PACOM for supporting war legacy remediation projects in Vietnam, notably the construction and inauguration of the explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) training ground for the Vietnam National Mine Action Center (VNMAC) in March 2025.
He also expressed his hope that the PACOM would continue to advocate for the U.S. Congress, Government, and Department of Defense to soon approve an additional budget of USD 130 million for the dioxin remediation project at Bien Hoa airbase, aiming to complete the project before 2031 and provide a safe living environment to local residents.
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General Nguyen Tan Cuong at the reception |
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Admiral Samuel Paparo at the reception |
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An overview of the reception |
Moving forward, General Nguyen Tan Cuong hoped both sides would continue to effectively implement agreed-upon cooperation contents, focusing on war legacy remediation, defense industry, inter-service cooperation, and military medicine. He also called for continued effective coordination within ASEAN-led mechanisms, particularly the Experts’ Working Groups of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus).
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General Nguyen Tan Cuong presents a souvenir to Admiral Samuel Paparo. |
General Nguyen Tan Cuong underlined that Vietnam would coordinate closely and provide the most favorable conditions for the search for U.S. missing-in-action (MIA) servicemen. Concurrently, he proposed that the U.S. increase the sharing of information, documents, and war keepsakes related to Vietnamese soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the war in Vietnam, while supporting capacity building for the DNA identification of remains. This will contribute to the effective implementation of the “500-day campaign for the search, collection, and identification of martyrs’ remains” launched by the Vietnamese Government.
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Admiral Samuel Paparo presents a souvenir to General Nguyen Tan Cuong. |
General Nguyen Tan Cuong highly valued Admiral Samuel Paparo’s attendance at the second Vietnam Defense Expo in 2024 and looked forward to welcoming him again at the third expo this December. He noted that Vietnam welcomes the U.S. bringing modern defense equipment for display, contributing to the overall success of the event.
For his part, Admiral Samuel Paparo highly valued the cooperative relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam, affirming that the U.S. respects Vietnam’s “Four Nos” defense policy.
Expressing delight at the positive results of the bilateral defense cooperation, Admiral Samuel Paparo hoped that their future ties would become increasingly substantive and effective, focusing on addressing the consequences of war, training, and military medicine.
Regarding the mitigation of war legacies, Admiral Samuel Paparo affirmed that the U.S. is committed to actively cooperating with Vietnam in mine clearance, information sharing, and enhancing the capacity for DNA identification of Vietnamese martyrs’ remains, contributing to the effective implementation of the on-going 500-day campaign of Vietnam.
Translated by Minh Anh