Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen Phan Van Giang (R) and Singaporean
Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam (Photo: qdnd.vn)
The Vietnamese minister congratulated the two ambassadors on their appointment,
and thanked the two countries for their support for Vietnam during the year
Vietnam served as Chair of ASEAN in 2020.
Giang expressed his belief that the diplomats will fulfill their important task,
contributing to further promoting the Vietnam – Philippines and Vietnam –
Singapore strategic partnerships.
Minister Giang and Philippine Ambassador Montealegres highly valued the
implementation of the defence cooperation agreement between their defence
ministries, saying that the bilateral defence relations have been deepened with
practical results in many fields such as delegation exchange, dialogue,
consultation, training and cooperation within the multilateral framework.
Amid complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two sides agreed to
organise suitable activities in the virtual form, especially the Defence Policy
Dialogue, the joint working group on defence cooperation, bilateral navy and air
defence consultations, cooperation in COVID-19 prevention, and support and
settlement of issues related to fishermen in a humanitarian spirit.
Meanwhile, Giang and the Singaporean Ambassador agreed that on the basis of
results from the implementation of the agreement on bilateral defence
cooperation, the two sides will promote the organization of a number of virtual
meetings, including the deputy ministerial-level defence policy dialogue,
meetings of joint working groups on bilateral defence cooperation and naval
cooperation, security dialogues, and cooperation activities in responding to
COVID-19.
The two sides pledged to continue to complete procedures and sign an agreement
on bilateral defence cooperation between the two governments in 2021 to replace
the 2009 document, thus contributing to strengthening intra-ASEAN solidarity and
improving ASEAN's position in the region and the world.
Source: VNA