Hanoi (VNA) - President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on May 13 called on the defence ministries of Vietnam and Indonesia to bolster consultations and support each other at multilateral forums, and maintain the common stance of ASEAN on regional issues, including the East Sea.

He made the call while hosting a reception for Indonesian Minister of Defence Prabowo Subianto, during which he underlined the countries’ mechanisms such as the defence policy dialogue play a major role in exchanging viewpoints, and handling bottlenecks and promptly guiding bilateral defence ties.

He hailed the official Vietnam visit by Subianto and a high-ranking delegation of the Indonesian Defence Ministry to attend the ongoing SEA Games 31, saying it will promote bilateral defence cooperation in a practical and effective manner, contributing to the Vietnam-Indonesia strategic partnership for peace, prosperity and development of each country, the region and the world, as well as to strengthening mutual trust.

The Vietnamese leader highly valued the results of talks between the two countries’ defence ministers and voiced his delight at their thriving defence relations. 

The countries have launched measures to consolidate political trust; fully implement signed cooperation agreements in an efficient and practical way, and bolster collaboration between the armies, especially regular exchanges between the countries’ navies and coast guards for timely resolution of maritime incidents; and exchange intelligence and defence industry information, as well as participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations. 

He affirmed that Vietnam treasures relations with Indonesia, which is the country’s leading strategic partner in the region, and strives to foster ties in a stable, sustainable and comprehensive fashion across all fields, particularly economy, security, defence, culture, education, tourism and people-to-people exchange.

Vietnam appreciated Indonesia’s contributions to upholding ASEAN’s central role and solidarity, especially the country’s active role in promoting the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus on the situation in Myanmar adopted by ASEAN leaders in April 2021.

Vietnam will support Indonesia as Chair of ASEAN next year and hopes the country will further contribute to building an ASEAN Community of solidarity, development, peace and stability that ensures security and freedom of navigation in the region adhering to international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

President Phuc said that with high consensus between him and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo, the two nations need to raise cooperation in addressing maritime issues and build a regular mechanism in this regard.

For his part, the visiting Indonesian Minister conveyed President Widodo’s regards to President Phuc and congratulated Vietnam on the successful opening ceremony of SEA Games 31.

He pledged that after his visit, Indonesia will bolster cooperation with Vietnam’s navy and coast guard forces in dealing with maritime issues. 

Furthermore, Indonesia wishes to learn from Vietnam’s experience in defence, fisheries and agricultural development, adding that the defence ministry stands ready to partner with its Vietnamese counterpart in technology and military medical training./.