THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM
Government News
Policy dialogue intensifies VN-US defense cooperation
VGP – The recent Viet Nam-US defense policy dialogue concretized the contents reached by the two countries’ defence ministers and discussed some defence cooperation issues to ensure that President Donald Trump will have an insight in bilateral ties during his upcoming visit to Viet Nam, said a high-ranking officer.
From October 15-18, Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh attended the defense policy dialogue in Washington DC and held a series of meetings with US officials, parliamentarians and representatives of some organizations to talk bilateral relations.
He told the Viet Nam News Agency that he made the working visit to the US shortly after a trip by Defense Minister Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich. Therefore, the dialogue mainly aimed to realize the contents reached by Minister Lich and US Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
At the event, the two sides discussed and concurred in the main content of defence cooperation from 2018 to 2021, he noted, adding that cooperation in war consequences settlement in Viet Nam was one of the focal issues under consideration.
US officials shared the Vietnamese side’s view that this is one of the cooperation spheres with positive outcomes, which have helped address war aftermath and build up mutual trust for future cooperation.
The US Department of Defense affirmed that it will strongly assist Viet Nam to deal with unexploded ordnance and Agent Orage (AO)/dioxin consequences and seek Vietnamese martyrs’ remains. It also highly valued Viet Nam's cooperation with the US in the search for missing-in-action servicemen of the US, Vinh added.
He said settling AO/dioxin consequences is also a focus of Viet Nam-US cooperation in solving the war aftermath. A highlight is the AO/dioxin detoxification project worth nearly US$100 million in Da Nang city. This US-funded project began in 2014 and has come to fruition.
Both sides plan to organise a ceremony to announce the project completion in November, when President Trump attends the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Da Nang and pay an official visit to Viet Nam, he noted.
Vinh said he hopes the ceremony would be attended by the two countries’ senior officials and President Trump would visit the project site, which is near Da Nang International Airport, to see the outcome of bilateral cooperation./.
By Hoang Ha