Sen. Lt. Gen. Pham Ngoc Minh (second row, third from right) attends the Chiefs of Defence Conference on United Nations peacekeeping in New York (Photo: VNA) New York (VNA) – A high-ranking delegation of theVietnam People’s Army attended the Chiefs of Defence Conference on United Nationspeacekeeping in New York, the US, on July 6-7.
Sen. Lt. Gen. Pham Ngoc Minh, Deputy Chief ofthe army’s General Staff and deputy head of the Vietnamese defence ministry’ssteering board for participation in UN peacekeeping, led the Vietnamesedelegation to the event.
The conference was attended by heads of thedefence force from more than 140 UN member countries which engage inpeacekeeping activities, along with representatives of such organisations asthe North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the European Union, and theAfrican Union.
In his opening remarks, UNUnder-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix highly valued substantialcontributions by countries volunteering peacekeepers, including Vietnam, to thepeace stabilisation, war consequences settlement, humanitarian aid to refugees,and environmental protection.
He stressed the need for higher unanimity in theUN member countries’ resolve to cope with existing urgent issues that affectthe future of peacekeeping operations such as field assistance, women’s role,swift force deployment, and some measures for improving the efficiency of the peacekeepingforce.
At the conference, many member nations showedtheir support for UN resolutions on peacekeeping and shared experience incommanding and managing the peacekeeping force.
Many of them also appreciated efforts bycountries which just took part in peacekeeping operations recently, includingVietnam. Vietnam was recognised as a country with clear political commitmentsand concrete and firm steps in its road map to participate in peacekeepingoperations.
On the sidelines of the conference, theVietnamese delegation had working sessions and meetings with defence officersof the UK, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand.
At a meeting with Gen. Chris Deverell –Commander of the UK’s Joint Forces Command, the two sides talked about thetakeover of a level-2 field hospital in Bentiu, South Sudan, and the sending ofexperts to help Vietnam in specialised and English language training. Theyexpressed the belief that with its determination and the UK’s wholeheartedsupport, Vietnam will be best prepared before taking over the field hospital atthe UN peacekeeping mission in 2018.-VNA
VNA
