The Vietnamese delegation was led by Senior Lieutenant General Vo Minh Luong, Deputy Defense Minister and head of the Vietnamese governmental task force, while the Lao delegation was headed by Sr. Lt. Gen. Thongloi Silivong, Deputy Defense Minister and Director of the General Department of Political Affairs, and head of the Lao governmental task force.
At the meeting, the two sides highly appreciated outcomes in the work over the past year. Specifically, in the 2023-2024 dry season, search and collection teams of Vietnam collected 184 sets of martyrs' remains with nine verified with name and hometown information.
The two sides highlighted their close coordination, timely settlement of difficulties during the collection and repatriation of remains of martyrs.
They emphasized that the Lao side has always given support to the Vietnamese teams, actively disseminated and encouraged local people to provide information about the burial places of Vietnamese volunteer troops and advisors who sacrificed in Laos during the war.
Acknowledging that there is less information about burial sites of Vietnamese martyrs in Laos, the task forces agreed that close collaboration, information dissemination, and quality of the work should be boosted in the 2024-2025 dry season to get more information about Vietnamese volunteer troops and advisors in Laos.
In addition, task forces and military commands at the provincial level should regularly exchange, draw lessons, and direct the work. Moreover, the two sides’ standing boards should actively give recommendations and develop solutions to promote the collection of remains of martyrs.
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The two sides sign the minutes of the 29th meeting. |
At the event, the two sides noted that localities having monuments on the solidarity and combat alliance of Vietnam and Laos should enhance popularization of the two militaries and peoples’ solidarity and combat alliance, better the reception service for domestic and international delegations to help beautify the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two parties, states, and peoples.
Authorized by the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Gen. Luong handed over the fund in 2024 from the Vietnamese Government to the special task forces of the Lao government and Lao localities.
Translated by Mai Huong