Vietnam-US defence ties contribute to regional peace and security

PANO – Since Vietnam and the United States normalized relations in 1995, bilateral defence ties have grown in width and depth, agreeing with the developments in relations between the two nations.

Over the past time, defence ties between Vietnam and the USA continued to see effective developments.

On August 17^th, 2010, the two sides held the first Annual Dialogue on Defence Policies at the deputy-defence minister level in Hanoi.

At the second Annual Dialogue on Defence Policies in September 2011 in Washington D.C, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on boosting defence cooperation.

Additionally, since 2008, the two sides have held annual dialogues on security, defence and diplomacy at the deputy-foreign-minister level, focusing political and defence ties between the two countries as well as international security issues of mutual concern.

Vietnamese Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh (right) welcoming US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta on his visit to Vietnam in 2012.

Over the time, the two sides have also increased bilateral exchanges, including bilateral consultations between the Department of Defence External Affairs under the Vietnamese Defence Ministry and the Policy and Planning Agency of the US Pacific Command; cooperation between the Vietnamese Air Defence and Air Force and the US Pacific Air Force in sharing experiences in aviation medicine, personnel training, weather forecast and flight safety; naval exchanges in search and rescue, personnel training and naval medicine; and other military exchanges in bomb and mine clearance, military medicine and training.

Especially, defence leaders of the two countries exchanged visits, noticeably the visits by the US Defence Secretary to Vietnam in 2000, 2006, 2009 and 2012 and by Vietnamese Defence Minister in 2003 and 2009, as well as many other visits of high-ranking defence and military officials of the two defence organizations over the past years.

These visits contributed much to strengthening defence ties between the two countries as during the meetings, the two sides had opportunities to consult and share with each other their viewpoints and issues of mutual concern, boosting mutual understanding and trust and agreeing on methods of maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and world.

One of the highlighted areas in the Vietnam-US relations over the past years has been the bilateral defence cooperation in overcoming the aftermath of the war, training, humanitarian assistance, military medicine, search and rescue.

In terms of the MIA issue, as of December 2012, the two sides carried out 109 joint search drives and Vietnam handed over many artifacts of US soldiers in 125 drives, helping the US sides to identify 676 MIA cases.

Meanwhile, the US Administration and Defence Department handed over to Vietnam 188 document profiles on missing Vietnamese soldiers during the war.

In recent years, the US side sponsored dozens of millions of dollars for clearing bombs and mines in localities and cleaning dioxin pollution in Da Nang, Bien Hoa and Phu Cat airports in Vietnam.

In addition, the US Defence Department continues to provide scholarships for Vietnamese military personnel to study in the USA, especially in English courses.

The above mentioned examples showed that cooperative ties, mutual understanding and trust between the Vietnamese and US armies are increasingly cemented and grown, positively contributing to promoting friendly relations between the two countries as well as boosting peace, stability and development in the region.