London (VNA) – UK military officers have pledged tofacilitate the transfer of a level-2 field hospital in South Sudan to Vietnamesecontrol while meeting with Vietnamese officers who are visiting the UK from May16-20.

The Vietnamese delegation, led by Sen. Lt. Gen.Pham Ngoc Minh – Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’sArmy, had working sessions with the UK Ministry of Defence and the GeneralStaff of the British Armed Forces, and visited the Army Medical ServicesTraining Centre in York. The two ministries agreed to strengthen cooperation inpeacekeeping.

At the Permanent Joint Headquarters, Chief ofJoint Operations Lt. Gen. John Lorimer affirmed that leaders of the GeneralStaff of the British Army and the army’s medical department will support thetransfer of the UK’s level-2 field hospital in South Sudan to Vietnam’s army.

Sen. Lt. Gen. Minh told Vietnam News Agency thattheir visit to the UK Ministry of Defence and the General Staff of the BritishArmed Forces aimed to reiterate Vietnam’s readiness to take over the fieldhospital from the UK in the second quarter of 2018.

The Vietnamese side also asked the UK to supportVietnam’s takeover of the hospital in the United Nations, he added.

At the meeting, the two sides shared experiencein logistics and technical issues and negotiating with the UN and South Sudanto facilitate the transfer of the field hospital.

Minh said officers of the British Army Command,the Joint Forces Command and the UK Defence Ministry affirmed that they willsupport Vietnam in deployment and training and provide the best possibleconditions for the transfer.

During their stay, the Vietnamese delegationvisited the 2nd Medical Brigade and the Army Medical Services Training Centrein Strensall, York. Seven Vietnameseofficers who will join the level-2 field hospital are taking part in anexercise with their British counterparts from May 11-21 there.

Colonel Hoang Kim Phung, Director of the VietnamPeacekeeping Centre, said the visit is of importance since both ministries ofdefence were committed to assisting a third country in the UN peacekeepingoperations. This was also an occasion for Vietnam’s peacekeeping force to learnfrom the UK’s experience.

Colonel Vo Van Thanh, Defence Attaché of theVietnamese Embassy in the UK, said bilateral defence ties have been reinforced inrecent years and become an important pillar in the two countries’ strategicpartnership.

In a Vietnam visit by Minister of State forDefence Earl Howe last April, the two ministries signed a memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) on defence cooperation which replaced the 2011 MoU. Thistime’s trip to the UK aimed to implement the new MoU.

In an overall plan on Vietnam’s participation in the UNpeacekeeping operations, the country targets one or two level-2 field hospitalsbeing simultaneously deployed. In the initial stage, the takeover of the UK’sfield hospital in South Sudan is one of the top priorities.-VNA