Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh received a delegation of Cuban war veterans who had helped Vietnam during the anti-US resistance war in Hanoi on Nov. 7.

At the reception, General Thanh expressed the Vietnamese people’s gratitude to the wholehearted and effective assistance from socialist countries, especially Cuba .

During the war, Cuba sent military experts and advisors to Vietnam , contributing to the success of the country’s resistance war for national salvation, he said.

The minister said that the visit offered a chance for Cuban war veterans to witness with their own eyes the national development achievements of war-torn Vietnam .

He expressed his wish that Cuban war veterans will share their valuable fighting experiences with Vietnamese military officers, helping strengthen mutual understanding and boost the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two nations and two armies.

For their part, the Cuban guests said they wish that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Vietnamese people will harvest greater successes in the path of making Vietnam a peaceful, independent, democratic and prosperous socialist country./.