Sen. Lieut. General Duoc described the July 23-31, 1980 space-flightmission by cosmonauts Pham Tuan and Victor Gorbatko as an historicalevent to the Vietnamese people and serving as a bright symbol for the 60years of traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation andstrategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia .
Heaffirmed the fact that with the former Soviet Union’s assistance,Vietnam became the first Asian country to conquer space.
TheRussian cosmonaut thanked the defence official for his reception andshowed his joy to see the immense achievements Vietnam has recordedin its national construction toward industrialisation and modernisation./.