Minister of National Defence General Phan Van Giang held a phone talk with his New Zealand counterpart Peeni Henare on March 9 during which they sought to strengthen defence ties between the two countries in multiple areas.
Minister of National Defence General Phan Van Giang. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Minister of National Defence General
Phan Van Giang held a phone talk with his New Zealand counterpart Peeni Henare
on March 9 during which they sought to strengthen defence ties between the two
countries in multiple areas.
Giang expressed sincere thanks to the
Government and people of New Zealand for supporting Vietnam in the fight against COVID-19. He
also informed Henare on Vietnam’s roadmap for staged border reopening post-COVID-19
which is expected to pave the way for closer defence relations between Vietnam and
other countries, including New Zealand.
The Vietnamese minister said despite COVID-19 impacts, Vietnam
and New Zealand has sustained and expanded the bilateral defence ties in
accordance with their signed agreements and the Strategic Partnership for the common
benefits of each nation and the region.
He highly spoke of the two ministries' efforts in maintaining high-level exchanges and meetings, citing the Vietnam-New
Zealand Defence Policy Dialogue held virtually in December 2020 and this phone
talk as examples.
He also appreciated the role and contributions of the New
Zealand Ministry of Defence at ASEAN-led multilateral defence-security
mechanisms, particularly the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM ).
Vietnam backs New Zealand to further step up its
Strategic Partnership with ASEAN, including the implementation of an action
plan in defence and security for 2021-2025.
Both sides agreed that there is plenty of room for the bilateral
defence ties to grow further on the basis of the Strategic Partnership. They agreed
to request the two ministries to continue making plans for future cooperation,
with focus placed on increasing high-level delegation exchanges, establishing dialogue
channels between the two countries’ defence-security officials and scholars, personnel
training, cyber security, search and rescue, and medical studies on
communicable diseases.
They also plan to effectively implement a memorandum of
understanding on defence cooperation in UN peacekeeping missions and soon
start the building of a cooperation plan for the next three years./.