General Phan Van Giang receives French Defence Minister

(Bqp.vn) - On May 5, Vietnamese Defence Minister General Phan Van Giang chaired a welcome ceremony for French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu who is on an official visit to Vietnam.

Defence Minister Phan Van Giang (L) welcoming his French counterpart.

Defence Minister Phan Van Giang and French Defence Minister inspecting the Guards of Honor of the VPA.

All delegates in a joint photo.

At the talks following the welcome ceremony, Defence Minister Phan Van Giang affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to its strategic partnership with France, which has been developing extensively and intensively across various fields, including defence cooperation. He highlighted the significance of the French minister’s visit in promoting the bilateral defence ties. Based on the Joint Vision Statement on Vietnam - France Defence Cooperation for the 2018 - 2028 period and the amended agreement on the defence ties, numerous positive outcomes have been achieved across various fields, including delegation exchanges, dialogue and consultation mechanisms, training, defence industry, military medicine, war legacy remediation, UN peacekeeping missions, mutual consultation and support at multilateral forums and mechanisms, etc.

During the talks.

Defence Minister Phan Van Giang suggested the two sides should make greater efforts to enhance defence cooperation in these areas and actively engage in exchanges to achieve early consensus on the Vietnam - France defence cooperation programme for the 2025 - 2028 period.

Defence Minister Phan Van Giang speaking at the talks.

For his part, Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu highlighted the importance of the bilateral collaboration in sharing historical memories and addressing the consequences of war between the two countries. He expressed his hope that the bilateral defence ties would be enhanced towards greater effectiveness to make it commensurate with the strategic partnership.

Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu speking at the talks.

At the talks, the two defence ministers also discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern. Regarding marine issues, they stressed the importance of peace, security, stability, freedom of navigation and overflight, the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the East Sea, and the effective pursuit of an effective and practical Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea.

Defence Minister Phan Van Giang presenting a souvernir to French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

At the end of the talks, the two defence ministers signed a Letter of Intent on enhancing the Vietnam - France defence cooperation.