Chief of the Australian Defence Force General Angus Campbell (Source: AAP)
Canberra (VNA) – The Vietnamese Embassy and theDefence Attaché Office inAustralia organised a ceremony in Canberra on December 13 to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) and the 30th All-People’s Defence Festival (Dec. 22).
Present at the ceremony were Chief of the AustralianDefence Force General Angus Campbell, Deputy Secretary Strategic Policy andIntelligence Peter Tesh and representatives from the Department of Defence andthe Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia, foreign embassies anddefence attachés in Australia.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador toAustralia Ngo Huong Nam highlighted the VPA’s outstanding achievements and greatcontributions to the country’s national construction and defence process overthe past 75 years.
He also underlined the strong development of defence relationsbetween Vietnam and Australia since the two countries signed a memorandum ofunderstanding on defence cooperation in November 2010.
Vietnam highly appreciated Australia’s assistance intraining and providing logistic services for Vietnamese officers joining UnitedNations peacekeeping missions, the ambassador said.
Vietnamese Defence Attaché in Australia Sen. Lieut. Col.Tran Truong Son said Vietnam has to date established defence cooperative tieswith 80 countries and international organisations.
Vietnam has joined United Nations peacekeeping missions since2014, showing its foreign policy of independence and active integration as aresponsible and reliable member of partners and the international community,Son said.
He took this occasion to introduce the most outstandingcontents and strategic orientations of Vietnam’s defence policy reflected in theWhite Paper on Vietnam National Defence 2019.
For his part, Campbell congratulated Vietnam and the VPAon their achievements over the past years.
The completion of the White Paper on Vietnam NationalDefence 2019 is a milestone of the VPA, he said.
As both nations are facing a lot of challenges, Australiaand Vietnam need to devise a plan to step up bilateral cooperative relations inorder to ensure regional peace, prosperity and national sovereignty, Campbellsaid.
He also voiced his hope that defence ties between the twocountries would continue to develop and open up new cooperation areas in2020./.
