Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s Defence Minister General Phan Van Giang chaired awelcome ceremony for and held talks with UK Secretary of State for Defence RobertBen Lobban Wallace in Hanoi on July 22.

During the talks, the two sides exchanged views on the worldand regional situations and issues of mutual concern. The British side sharedVietnam’s views on solving the East Sea issue, affirming the importance of navigationand aviation freedom, supporting the rule of law, and emphasising that disputesneed to be settled by peaceful means, based on international law, includingthe 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

They agreed that over the past time, the bilateral cooperationhas been lifted to a new height, with many achievements in the fields ofpolitics, economy, trade, culture and education.

Regarding defence cooperation, despite impacts of the COVID-19pandemic, the two sides have basically completed the agreed cooperationcontents such as maintaining the policy dialogue mechanism, stepping updelegation exchanges, training English language for Vietnamese officers, andsharing experience in UN peacekeeping missions, thus contributing to the twocountries’ strategic partnership.

They consented to continuing to promote defence tieswith a focus on the exchange of delegations, the implementation of the existingcooperation mechanisms such as the Defence Policy Dialogue at the deputyministerial level and the bilateral working group on defense cooperation,English language training for Vietnamese officers, the participation in UN peacekeepingmissions, defence industry and cooperation on multilateral forums.

Vietnam supports the UK’s participation in the ASEAN DefenceMinisters' Meeting Plus (ADMM+) on the basis of ASEAN consensus, and backs the UK in promoting collaboration with ASEAN, including in military defence.

Minister General Phan Van Giang expressed his pleasure to welcome and holdtalks with Secretary of State for Defence Robert Ben Lobban Wallace in Hanoi amid the complicated developmentsof the COVID-19 pandemic in the world as well as in two countries.  

The move affirms the goodwill, efforts and determination ofthe two countries in promoting cooperation in general and defence cooperationin particular, he stated.

He took the occasion to thank the British Government for sharingexperience in COVID-19 prevention and control, and putting Vietnam on the prioritylist of vaccines. He also suggested Wallace, within his authority, help the VietnameseDefence Ministry in gaining access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Within the framework of his Vietnam visit from July 21-23,the UK Secretary of State for Defence is scheduled to pay a courtesy visit toPrime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, visit the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and theVietnam National Border Committee, and have a meeting with several officers who participated in UN peacekeeping missions./.