Defence Minister, General Ngo Xuan Lich (L) meets Secretary General of the Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence Vice Admiral Agus Setiadji (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Minister of Defence, Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh and Secretary General of the Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence Vice Admiral Agus Setiadji co-chaired the first Vietnam-Indonesia Defence Policy Dialogue in Hanoi on June 25.
The two sides shared information of defence policy of each country, while discussing the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region, the cooperation within the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM Plus, and preparations for Vietnam’s ASEAN chairmanship in 2020.
They showed their delight at bilateral defence partnership over the years, especially in personnel training, information sharing and cooperation between armed forces.
Both sides agreed to continue exchanging delegations, improving the efficiency of existing dialogue mechanisms, strengthening cooperation activities among armed forces, and seeking possibility to collaborate in defence industry.
The two countries will continue coordinating with and supporting each other at multilateral forums.
Regarding the illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing issue, the Vietnamese side noted that many Vietnamese fishermen’s awareness of the law remains limited, leading to regrettable violations of Indonesian law.
Vinh underscored the need to deal with the matter on the humanitarian spirit in line with international law as well as the laws of Indonesia and Vietnam.
Vietnam has also directed the coast guard force to give similar settlement to violations of foreign fishermen without arresting and damaging their fishing tools.
The official proposed that the two sides cope with the issue in the same way, avoiding adversely affecting the friendship between the two countries.
The Vietnamese side also proposed a number of measures to enhance bilateral ties, including building coordination mechanisms at different levels between the two defence ministries, naval forces and coast guard forces.
The two countries should set up and effectively operate the hotline, while strengthening cooperation in diverse methods, such as joint patrol, legal experience exchange, joint exercise on anti-smuggling and illegal fishing, along with researching of sea environment and legal communications for fishermen, the Vietnamese side proposed.
Also on June 25, Defence Minister, General Ngo Xuan Lich hosted a reception for Vice Admiral Agus Setiadji. General Lich lauded the defence cooperation between the two ministries, especially after the signing of a Joint Vision on Defence Cooperation in the 2017-2022 period in 2017.
He spoke highly of the establishment of the Vietnam-Indonesia Defence Dialogue, which marks a new progress in the partnership between the two ministries.
This is a highly practical mechanism which creates favourable conditions for leaders of both countries to share their viewpoints on the global and regional situation of mutual concern, while reviewing the bilateral defence cooperation outcomes and seeking new measures to deepen the ties, he said.
General Lich suggested that in the future, the two sides continue maintaining such dialogues to continue effectively implement agreements between the two countries.
For his part, Vice Admiral Agus Setiadji expressed his delight at the friendship and all-round cooperation between the two countries over the past year, including defence partnership.
The official highlighted the role of the newly-established defence dialogue in boosting bilateral defence ties.
He informed the host of the results of the first dialogue, showing his belief that the defence collaboration between the two countries will continue to thrive in the coming time.
The Indonesian official agreed with proposals of Vietnam regarding fishermen issues.-VNA
VNA
