Vietnam, Singapore hold 14th defence policy dialogue

(Bqp.vn) - In Hanoi on October 5, the 14th defence policy dialogue between Vietnam and Singapore took place under the co-chair of Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien and Singaporean Permanent Secretary for Defence Chan Heng Kee.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien and Singaporean Permanent Secretary for Defence Chan Heng Kee.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien affirmed that 2023 is a special year when the two countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations and 10 years of the strategic partnership, based on which defence cooperation has become increasingly substantive and effective.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien speaking at the dialogue.

According to Singaporean Permanent Secretary for Defence Chan Heng Kee, the bilateral defence cooperation has substantially contributed to the strategic partnership and that defence ties have continued developing strongly, especially since the signing of the agreement on bilateral defence cooperation in February 2022 and the cooperation plan for 2023 - 2025 in November the same year.

At the dialogue.

At the dialogue, the two sides discussed the international and regional situations and issues of common concern. They highly valued the role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and ASEAN-led mechanisms. Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien emphasised Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, multilateralisation and diversification of external relations. Regarding the East Sea issue, Vietnam’s consistent viewpoint is to persistently resolve differences by peaceful means and on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Singaporean Permanent Secretary for Defence Chan Heng Kee speaking at the dialouge.

The two sides affirmed that on the basis of the signed documents and agreements, the bilateral defence cooperation has continued to be carried out effectively and obtained positive results in various fields, such as all-level mutual visits, effectively maintained consultation and dialogue mechanisms, training cooperation, experience and information sharing, exchanges of young officers, and cooperation between military services and arms.

They agreed to keep making efforts to promote defence ties in the time to come, with a focus on increasing delegation exchanges at all levels, especially high levels; continuing to perfect cooperation frameworks and mechanisms; and boosting personnel training and collaboration between the two countries’ naval and air forces.

Both sides also agreed to strengthen partnerships in potential areas such as cybersecurity, digital transformation, military medicine; consult with and support each other at multilateral forums and mechanisms led by ASEAN so as to make important contributions to the consolidation of ASEAN’s centrality.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien and Singaporean Permanent Secretary for Defence Chan Heng Kee witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding.

Concluding the dialogue, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien and Singaporean Permanent Secretary for Defence Chan Heng Kee witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief between the Office of the National Committee for Incident and Disaster Response, Search and Rescue of Vietnam and the Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Coordination Centre of Singapore.