The defence ties between Vietnam and India are stepping into a new stage of active, effective development to meet with the two countries’ strategic partnership, a Vietnamese defence official has said.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Dinh Chien, who is Director of the National Defence Strategies Institute, made the remarks at a defence seminar in India’s capital city of New Delhi on May 15 and 16.

The seminar is held annually by the Ministry of National Defence’s Institute for Defence Strategy of Vietnam and the United Service Institution (USI) and the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) of India .

Chien further added that defence cooperation has become a symbol of the two countries’ friendship.

The exchanges of high-ranking delegations and dialogues on national defence strategies have benefited the two armed forces’ mutual trust and understanding, creating a new momentum for bilateral cooperation and friendship to grow in all fields, Chien said.

The seminar is seen as an important channel for the two countries to exchange views on regional security issues of mutual concern, especially analyses, and predictions on potential threats to national security and defence in respective country.

The Vietnamese delegation put on table presentations on security situation in the Asia-Pacific and related issues of mutual concern while the host side talked about how to deal with non-traditional security risks and experience in peacekeeping operations deployed by the United Nations.

The annual event is a concrete activity under a cooperation agreement signed among the three afore-mentioned institutes.-VNA