Vietnam and France agreed to boost cooperation in national defense on the basis of the friendship relations between the two countries.
The two countries reached the agreement at the second meeting of the Joint Committee on National Defense Cooperation held in Paris on Nov. 21 and 22.
Deputy Defense Minister Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh led the Vietnamese delegation and co-chaired the meeting.
At the meeting, the two sides gave out plans for their cooperation, including exchange of military delegation, training, research on defense strategy, military technique and coordination at multilateral forums.
They stressed the need to study the possibility of a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation as Vietnam had signed with many nations.
During his stay in France , Lieut. Gen. Vinh met with French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet, who expressed his support of stronger defense cooperation between the two countries to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Vietnam-France diplomatic ties in 2013.
Vinh conveyed an invitation to visit Vietnam from Defense Minister General Phung Quang Thanh to Minister Gerard Longuet. The French Minister accepted the invitation.
Vinh also had meetings with French Chief of Defense Admiral Edouard Guillaud, the State Secretary for Defense Ministry and leaders of some strategic research institutes to discuss regional and international issues of mutual concern.
The French side expressed interest in the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, saying peace, stability will help development in the region. They expressed their hope that nations in the region should act in a civilized manner and obey international laws.
Granting an interview to Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent in Paris , Lieut. Gen. Vinh said that French defense officials paid special interest to the Asia-Pacific region, including Vietnam .
Vinh added that cooperation between the two countries has seen fine and trustful development. Problems in the past seem to be solved and the two countries are looking to the future.
Vinh said Vietnam welcomes hailed France ’s cooperation in all fields, especially in national defense.
Over the past two years, the two sides saw remarkable progresses, which brought benefits to both sides and contributed to peace, and stability in Asia and the Pacific.
