Addressing the meeting, Vinh underscored that 2018 marks an important milestone in the Vietnam-Australia relations, with a joint statement on the establishment of a strategic partnership and the celebration of 45 years of Vietnam-Australia diplomatic relations and 20 years of their defence ties.
Defence cooperation has been accelerated by the two countries, with significant outcomes generated, thus meeting the interests of both sides, he said.
The official stated that the two defence ministries are currently making active preparations for the official visit to Australia by Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich, Politburo member, deputy secretary of the Central Military Commission and Vietnamese Minister of Defence, later this year.
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Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh (R) presents a souvenir to the Australian defence official. (Photo: qdnd.vn)
Vinh took the occasion to thank the Australian Department of Defence for its support to the Vietnamese side in the fields of English skills improvement, expertise training and capacity building for Vietnam’s peacekeeping forces.
He called on the two sides to continue to boost their bilateral defence cooperation in a substantive and effective fashion, focusing on the exchange of delegations, consultation/dialogue mechanisms at various levels, education and training, participation in UN peacekeeping operations, and the settlement of consequences left-over by the war.
For his part, Stephen Moore agreed with Vinh’s view on the directions for their bilateral defence cooperation in the future, while affirming that, in his position, he will continue to make active contributions to the development of the relations between Vietnam and Australia as a whole and between the two countries’ armies in particular.
