Sydney (VNA) – Vietnam and Australia held the first national defence policydialogue in the Australian capital city of Canberra on November 3.

Thedialogue was chaired by Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh and FirstAssistant Secretary of the Department of Defence of Australia Marc Ablong.

Vinhunderscored the significance of the dialogue which took place for the firsttime since the establishment of bilateral defence ties in 1998 and in thecontext of the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Heaffirmed that Vietnam highly treasures its defence ties with Australia. Overthe past nearly two decades, the two countries have reached consensus onpractical cooperative areas and created mutual trust.

Ablong,for his part, said Australia chooses Vietnam as a priority partner in itsDefence White Paper, adding that Australia highly values Vietnam’s position androle and backs its bid to run for a non-permanent member position of the UnitedNations Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure.

Bothsides discussed issues of shared concern, including non-traditional securitychallenges.

Onbilateral defence ties, they adopted the working outcomes of the national defenceconsultation group at the external relations agency level held on November 2.

꧟[Vietnam hopes to elevate comprehensive partnership with Australia]

Accordingly, the two nations effectively realised the Memorandum ofUnderstanding on Bilateral Defence Cooperation and commitments by the twocountries and defence ministries’ leaders this year, as well as agreementsreached by the two defence ministers during the Vietnam visit by AustralianDefence Minister Marise Payne in August 2017, including the exchange of all-leveldelegations, training, maritime security, counter-terrorism, and the UNpeacekeeping mission.

Onthe occasion, Vinh thanked the Australian Defence Department for assisting the VietnameseDefence Ministry in English training, especially for forces joining the UNpeacekeeping mission, and in transporting equipment and forces when Vietnam isto start to deploy level-2 field hospital in the UN peacekeeping mission inSouth Sudan in 2018.

As2018 marks the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties, the 20th anniversary of bilateral defence ties and the upcoming upgrade of bilateralties into strategic partnership, both sides underscored the importance of takingpractical and effective actions in line with the signed MoU on bilateraldefence collaboration, focusing on the exchange of high-level delegations, enhancingtraining, and sharing experience in the UN peacekeeping activities, along withactivities relating to counter-terrorism, cyber and maritime security, andexploring the possibility of joint work in defence industry and gender equalityin the army.

Duringthe stay, Vinh met with Acting Secretary of the Department of Defence RebeccaSkinner, and Acting Chief of the Australian Defence Force Vice Admiral RayGriggs, and visited several military units to learn about their experience inthe UN peacekeeping operations.-VNA