Việt Nam, Japan strengthen defence cooperation

Minister of National Defence General Phan Văn Giang and Japanese Defence Minister Kihara Minoru exchange cooperation documents. VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

HÀ NỘI — Minister of National Defence General Phan Văn Giang held talks with visiting Japanese Defence Minister Kihara Minoru in Hà Nội on Tuesday, during which they touched upon cooperation orientations.

Minister Kihara was making his first official visit to Việt Nam in his capacity as the minister in charge of defence.

Giang highlighted the significance of Kihara’s visit to deepening the Việt Nam-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World established last year, covering cooperation between the two defence ministries.

He said the bilateral defence relations had been expanded continuously and had grown more intensively and substantively, serving as a key pillar of the relationship between the two countries, with notable collaboration outcomes in the settlement of war aftermath, training, military medicine, rescue operations, UN peacekeeping and regular consultations in regional forums, particularly within the framework of the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+).

The two sides had maintained dialogue and exchange mechanisms, along with the deputy ministerial-level Defence Policy Dialogue and consultations among officers.

Regarding future collaboration, Giang proposed the two sides work together to advance defence cooperation to a new and effective phase, consistent with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World.

They should focus on such areas as all-level delegation exchanges and meetings, the implementation of annual dialogue and consultation mechanisms, personnel training, technology transfer, war aftermath settlement and UN peacekeeping.

The two countries should enhance consultation and coordination in multilateral mechanisms, thereby contributing to effectively implementing the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, he noted.

For his part, Kihara extended his deepest condolences to the Vietnamese people over the passing of Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, who made significant contributions to strengthening the Việt Nam-Japan relations.

The visitor expressed his confidence that this visit would further tighten the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World and foster bilateral defence cooperation in the areas of mutual interest.

During the talks, the two sides exchanged views on world and regional issues of shared concern. Regarding maritime issues, Giang emphasised Việt Nam’s commitment to resolving all disputes through peaceful means on the basis of international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) (DOC), while pushing ahead with negotiations for a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

At the end of the talks, the two ministers exchanged a letter of agreement and a memorandum of understanding regarding Japan’s transfer of two multi-purpose vehicles in service of rescue operations to Việt Nam. — VNS