A delegation of all the 54 ethnic groups made a historic visit to Vietnam ’s frontline islands district of Truong Sa, leaving Ho Chi Minh City on April 18.

The delegation, including Buddhist clerics, is scheduled to visit eight islands off the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa , including Sinh Ton Dong (Survival) and Song Tu Tay (Western Double Deaths) island, with extremely tough living conditions, to pay tribute to fallen soldiers at the Martyrs Monument and President Ho at his shrine.

They will also pray at pagodas on islands and join in memorial services at sea for fallen sailors who sacrificed their lives in safeguarding national sea and islands sovereignty.

A fieldtrip to the marine platform DK1, one of seven logistics and technical services stations in Vietnamese waters in the East Sea , will provide the delegation with a chance to talk with workers and sailors located there and present them with gifts.

Before departure, Trieu Thi Ngoan from the Nung ethnic minority group, who is deputy president of the Vietnam Fatherland Front of the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak , confided that this was the first and long awaiting trip.

Her view was shared by Most Venerable Danh Lung of the Khmer ethnic minority, who heads the Chantarangsay pagoda in HCM City, with both saying that they would bring heartfelt love and admiration from their tribes and religion to sailors who are courageously defending the national islands and seas./.