Luang Prabang (VNA) – Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Tan Cuong,Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army and Deputy Minister ofNational Defence, had bilateral meetings with Indonesian Deputy Minister of DefenceMuhꩲammad Herindra and Philippine Undersecretary of National Defencꦫe Irineo C.Espino in Luang Prabang, Laos, on March 5.

The events took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN DefenceMinisters’ Meeting (ADMM) Retreat. Talking to the Deputy Defence Minister of Indonesia, Cuong congratulatedthe Indonesian Ministry of Defence on its successful organisation of eventsduring the country’s ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2023, which helped sustain ASEAN’scooperation momentum and promote the bloc’s stature. He also expressed hisdelight at the sound development of bilateral relations between the two countries. On the basis of the signed cooperation documents, the two officialsagreed to foster all-round ties, especially in exchanging all-leveldelegations, the dialogue mechanisms between the two defence ministries, and cooperationbetween military services and arms of Vietnam and Indonesia. They also agreed to consider expanding partnerships in potentialareas such as the defence industry, logistics, and military medicine, and thatthe two sides will keep coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums. The Vietnamese official asked themaritime law enforcement forces to increase information sharing, cooperation,and assistance for fishing vessels and fishermen who are indistress at sea while giving humanitarian treatment to vessels and fishermen asin line with the Vietnam - Indonesia relations and ASEAN’s spirit of solidarity. At the meeting with Philippine Undersecretary Irineo C. Espino, thetwo officials shared the view that bilateral defence ties have been implementedfruitfully in different aspects, including holding mutual visits at all levels,bringing into play existing cooperation mechanisms, sending vessels for mutualvisits, consulting with and supporting each other at ASEAN-led multilateral forumsand frameworks. Cuong called on the two sides to promote the signing of cooperation deals suchas the ones on defence cooperation and logistics assistance. Vietnam and the Philippines will continue working togetherclosely to effectively carry out the signed agreements, with a focus on exchangingall-level delegations, maintaining the defence policy dialogue mechanism,reinforcing ties between military services and arms, and considering theexpansion of ties to such fields as logistics, military medicine, and maritimesecurity and safety. Cuong suggested further promoting friendship exchanges betweennaval forces stationed on Song Tu Tay and Song Tu Dong islands to enhancemutual understanding between their officers and soldiers in order to performjoint tasks and contribute to bilateral defence connections./.