Vietnam treasures the sound development and effective outcome of the bilateral ties between Vietnam and Japan, and hopes to continue enhancing this strategic partnership, including defence relations.

The statement was made by the Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, Sen. Lt. Gen. Do Ba Ty at his talks with Chief of Joint Staff of Japan’s Self Defence Forces Gen. Shigeru Iwasaki, in Tokyo on April 15.

Sen. Lt. Gen. Ty is leading a high-ranking military delegation on an official friendly visit to Japan at the invitation of Gen. Shigeru Iwasaki.

The Vietnamese guest said the visit is a practical activity to mark the 40 th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, and will contribute to further stepping up bilateral defence cooperation.

He suggested that the two sides continue the implementation of cooperation contents within the framework of the MoU on bilateral defence cooperation including delegation exchange, experience sharing and training.

He also recommended closer cooperation at multilateral forums such as the ASEAN Regional Security Forum (ARF) and the ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting Plus (ADMM+) as well as in humanitarian and natural calamity support activities.

For his part, Gen. Shigeru Iwasaki valued the position and role of Vietnam in the region, and stressed that Vietnam and Japan, as two nations in the Pacific-Asia, share many similarities. Therefore, Japan pays attention to increasing multi-faceted cooperation with Vietnam, including in defence industry.

The same day, Japan’s Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera received the Vietnamese delegation.

He said that the official visit of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Vietnam has affirmed the strategic partnership between the two countries. The minister also said he supports the cooperation between the Vietnam People’s Army and Japan’s Self-Defence Forces.

Sen. Lt. Gen. Ty conveyed an invitation to visit Vietnam from Defence Minister Gen. Tran Quang Thanh to the Japanese Defence Minister.-VNA10