At the fourth Vietnam - Australia defence policy dialogue (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. HoangXuan Chien and Deputy Secretary Strategy, Policy and Industry at the AustralianDepartment of Defence, Peter Tesch, co-chaired the fourth Vietnam - Australiadefence policy dialogue held via video-conference on December 3.
Reviewing bilateral defence ties over past years, they noted the twodefence ministries pledged to continue promoting ties within the framework of thetwo countries’ strategic partnership despite the impact of COVID-19.
Defence leaders have maintained annual exchanges, most recently betweenthe two ministers at the informal meeting of ASEAN - Australia defenceministers held for the first time in Hanoi.
Both sides spoke highly of successes in their cooperation on Englishtraining and UN peacekeeping operations, thus helping Vietnam fulfil the UN’smission and reflecting its role and responsibility in the internationalcommunity.
They hope to expand several new areas of cooperation, such as militarymedicine, cyber security, academic exchange, search and rescue, and defenceindustry.
On regional and global issues of shared concern, they reached consensuson the principle of respecting international law, settling disputes by peacefulmeans, and refraining from the use of or threat to use force.
The two sides expressed their belief that only via cooperation can the worldstay united and gradually recover from the pandemic.
On the occasion, Chien thanked the Australian Department of Defence and thecountry’s army for promptly helping Vietnam during the recent floods./.
VNA
