Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien (second from left) attends the dialogue. (Photo: VNA) Organised by the International Institute for StrategicStudies (IISS), the dialogue has brought together more than 550 delegates who are defenceand security officers and scholars from 41 countries.
The event, lasting until June 4, features seven plenarysessions and six special sessions that touch upon various issues like securityin cyberspace competition, challenges to developing military capacity inAsia-Pacific, nuclear threats and challenges to regional security, and defencecooperation trends in Indo-Pacific.
On the sidelines of the dialogue, Chien met with leadersof defence ministries and delegation heads of some participating countries,including Chinese Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Li Shangfu.
Chien and Li shared the view that the Vietnam-China defencecooperation has received attention of all-level leaders of both sides, sayingit is growing practically and becomes an important pillar of the bilateral comprehensivestrategic cooperative partnership.
Li stressed that the defence cooperation has been furtherimplemented in line with the common perceptions reached by high-ranking leadersof the two countries, especially after the official visit to China by GeneralSecretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen PhuTrong.
Chien suggested the two sides continue with delegationexchanges and other collaboration activities in border and sea management anddefence, and soon organise the eighth Border Defence Friendship Exchange, andthe defence strategic dialogue.
At a meeting with Australian Deputy PrimeMinister and Minister for Defence Richard Donald Marles, the two officials noted thatthe bilateral defence ties have made new strides in all fields, from delegationexchange to training and maritime security, especially UN peacekeepingoperations.
They consented to maintain cooperation in the agreed areas,firstly accelerating the signing of an agreement on the partnership in peacekeeping,and upgrading the Joint Vision for Enhancing Defence Cooperation.
Chien used this occasion to thank Australia for itssupport in transporting Vietnam’s level-2 field hospitals to UN peacekeepingmissions.
In this regard, Marles affirmed that Australia willhelp the Southeast Asian nation transport its level-2 field hospital rotation 5to South Sudan later this month.
Meeting with Japanese Vice Minister of Defence MasamiOka, Chien called on the Japanese side to further assist Vietnam inpeacekeeping operations in terms oftraining and experience sharing.
On this occasion, the Vietnamese officer also hadmeetings with representatives of the Singaporean Ministry of Defence, and AssistantDeputy Minister of Canada Peter Hammerschmidt./.
VNA
