New York (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of National Defence Gen. Phan Van Giang met with United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix in New York on September 23 (local time), within the framework of Party General Secretary and State President To Lam’s ongoing trip to the US for the UN General Assembly's 79th session and Summit of the Future.
Giang, who is also Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission, highly valued the UN's pivotal role in building the international law system, maintaining peace, preventing conflicts and addressing global challenges, affirming that as a UN member, Vietnam always follows the UN Charter, its resolutions and action programmes.
He expressed the Vietnamese Defence Ministry’s thanks for the UN's support and cooperation with Vietnam over the past 47 years.
In national defence-security, Vietnam actively joins the UN's collective efforts to address non-traditional security challenges, contributing to maintaining global and regional peace and security, particularly in UN peacekeeping operations, disarmament, and the fight against cross-border crime.
As a member of international disarmament treaties, Vietnam strictly complies with UN Security Council resolutions on preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, proactively and fully engages in activities under these treaties, he said.
Informing Lacroix about Vietnam's achievements after a decade of participation in UN peacekeeping operations, Giang said Vietnam has so far deployed more than 900 military and police personnel to the UN missions in South Sudan (UNMISS), the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), and the Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).
Vietnam has also successfully deployed five rotations of Level-2 field hospital at UNMISS and two rotations of Engineering Unit at UNISFA. On September 24, Vietnam will continue its commitment by deploying its sixth Level-2 field hospital to UNMISS and the Engineering Unit Rotation 3 to UNISFA. Additionally, Vietnam has consistently maintained a high proportion of female personnel in UN peacekeeping operations, with participation rates exceeding 14%.
Stressing that Vietnam consistently pursues a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance for peace, cooperation and development, being a friend and a reliable partner and a responsible member of the international community, Giang said Vietnam wishes to further enhance its participation in UN peacekeeping operations, increase the number of officers joining the UN activities and receive continued UN support for Vietnamese military attachés and army officers at the UN.
Giang wished that Lacroix would continue to support Vietnam's commitments and political determination in joining UN peacekeeping operations.
Lacroix praised Vietnam's increasingly active and effective participation in UN peacekeeping operations, stressing that this has significantly enhanced the effectiveness of the missions to which Vietnam has contributed forces.
He believed that the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence, and Vietnam as a whole, would continue to make effective contributions to UN peacekeeping operations, noting that these efforts affirm Vietnam's commitment and responsibility toward global peace and security while also fostering its cooperative and trustful relationships with the UN and other partners./.
