PM hosts reception for military leaders from 10 countries

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (4th from left), Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung (first from right) and military leaders pose for family photo at the Government Office in Ha Noi on December 20, 2019. Photo: VGP

Welcoming the military leaders to Viet Nam, Phuc said their presence at the ceremony reflects their countries’ good sentiments towards Viet Nam and contributes to beefing up friendship, trust and mutual understanding between the relevant countries’ armies.

The Government chief extended thanks to the support of the countries’ Governments and armies to Viet Nam, highlighting Viet Nam’s defense policy nature of peace and self-defense, which is enshrined in the 2019 Viet Nam defense white paper released recently.

He reaffirmed Viet Nam’s consistent policy of settling outstanding issues, divergences and disputes through peaceful means on the basis of international law, not joining military alliances, not joining one country against another, not allowing foreign countries to set up military bases or use Viet Nam’s territory against others, not using or threatening to use force in international relations.

In pursuing an independent defense policy, Viet Nam has also focused on enhancing defense cooperation with other countries on the basis of respecting independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity for the noble goal of peace, independence and development, Phuc said.

On behalf of the delegation, Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces expresses his admiration for the sacrifices of the Vietnamese people and army in the past struggle for national liberation and the current cause of national development.

Meanwhile, Rusian Vice Admiral Liina Viktor Nilolaevich extended his sincere congratulations to the Viet Nam People’s Army, saying that the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM ) has played a role in ensuring security in the region and the world.

PM Phuc stressed that the current situation in the world and the region continues to see rapid, complex and hard-to-predict developments, adding the regional and global security challenges and risks are requiring joint efforts from all the countries inside and outside the region.

The Vietnamese Government and people highly value the outcome of the defence cooperation over the recent past between Vietnam and foreign countries, both bilaterally and multilaterally, the leader said, stressing that the ADMM is the defence-security cooperation mechanism of the top importance in the region.

He also asked foreign countries to continue supporting Vietnam to successfully shoulder its ASEAN and UNSC roles./.

By Thuy Dung