Tel Aviv (VNA) – Israeli President Reuven Rivlin hasreceived Vietnam’s Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh, affirming thesupport that he and the State and the Government of his country give to defenceties with Vietnam.

At the meeting in Jerusalem on February 7,Reuven Rivlin considered the Vietnamese delegation’s visit to Israel as ademonstration of the growing cooperation, including in defence, between the twocountries.

He expressed his admiration for Vietnam and itslate President Ho Chi Minh, as well as the enormous achievements the countryhas attained recently. He said the outcomes of bilateral cooperation havehelped strengthen mutual trust and met the two people’s interests for the sakeof peace, stability and development in their respective regions and the world.

Sen. Lt. Gen. Vinh, who was leading a delegationof the Defence Ministry on a visit to Israel from February 6-9, underlinedVietnam’s consistent foreign policy of being a friend and a trustworthy partnerin the international community. In the policy of multilateralising anddiversifying foreign relations, Vietnam attaches importance to bolstering thefriendship and cooperation with Middle Eastern nations, including Israel. 

He also informed the host President about theoutcomes of defence links, thanking Israeli leaders in general and Rivlin inparticular for advocating and providing favourable conditions for the twodefence ministries’ fruitful cooperation.

He hoped for the President’s continued supportand assistance to the ministries in building up a reliable and practicalpartnership which can be on par with the countries’ flourishing ties.

Earlier the same day, Deputy Minister Vinh hadtalks with Director General of the Israeli Defence Ministry Udi Adam. Theyexchanged viewpoints on international and regional issues of shared concernwhile voicing their delight at the expansion of bilateral friendship andcooperation in various spheres, including defence.

On the basis of the sound relationship, Vietnamwants both sides to straightforwardly discuss measures for enhancing defenceconnections in a synchronous and comprehensive manner, in conformity with thememorandum of understanding on bilateral denfece relations inked in 2015, andin line with the Vietnamese Government’s policy of developing relations betweenVietnam and Middle Eastern-African nations between 2016 and 2025, Vinh noted.

For his part, Director General Udi Adam describedthe Vietnamese officials’ visit as important to defence cooperation activitiesin 2017. He spoke highly of the Southeast Asian nation’s role and stature inthe region, adding that Israel wants to join Vietnam in building a trustworthy,effective and sustainable cooperative partnership.

Both sides shared the view that increasinglyeffective defence cooperation will help deepen the two countries’ relations,thereby meeting their peoples’ interests and actively contributing to jointefforts towards peace, stability, cooperation and development.

Concluding the talks, the two sides signed a minutesof the Vietnamese delegation’s visit and another on building a consultationmechanism for the two ministries’ working groups.

During the trip, Vietnamese officials hadmeetings with Israel’s Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Acting NationalSecurity Advisor Jacob Nagel. They also visited some units and businesses inthe local defence industry.-VNA