Vietnam, South Africa hold second defence policy dialogue

Pretoria (VNA) - Vietnam and South Africa held their second Defence Policy Dialogue in Pretoria on March 29.

Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh and South African Secretary for Defence Samson Makhudu Gulube co-chaired the event.

Gulube highlighted the growing relations between South Africa and Vietnam in different fields, including national defence.

He reiterated the South African Government’s support for bilateral cooperation in defence industry, adding that his nation is willing to receive Vietnamese students for training courses.

The Secretary also updated the Vietnamese officers on the situation in Africa as well as South Africa’s defence policy and operations of its army.

For his part, Vinh briefed the hosts about security in Asia-Pacific, affirming that peace, cooperation and development are main trends in the region.

He also pointed out several regional challenges, including the gap between the rich and the poor, territorial disputes, and other non-traditional security challenges, saying that the region has faced a risk of instability and witnessed an arm race among the world’s powers.

Vinh affirmed Vietnam’s stance on the East Sea issue, saying that Vietnam strongly supports the settlement of disputes in the East Sea through peaceful measures and in line with international law. Vietnam also advocates non-nuclearization on the Korean peninsula.

Regarding the bilateral defence cooperation, Vinh said the two countries need to strengthen an effective cooperation mechanism.

South Africa is an important partner of Vietnam in the UN’s peace-keeping operations, Vinh said, adding that Vietnam highly evaluated cooperation in defence industry, logistics, military medical, and training.

Vietnam is also willing to receive South African students for training courses provided by the National Defence Academy of Vietnam.

He agreed with the host’s idea to organise a mid-term conference to review the implementation of the national defence cooperation agreements and invited the Secretary and a South African delegation to attend the conference slated for the fourth quarter of 2017.-VNA