Jakarta (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of DefenceGen. Phan Van Giang held bilateral meetings with defence leaders from India,Japan and the Philippines on the sidelines of the 17th ASEAN Defence Ministers'Meeting (ADMM) and the 10th ADMM-Plus in Jakarta, Indonesia onNovember 16.
In their meeting, Giang and Indian Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh shared the view that the former's official visit to India in June has generated a drivingforce for the effective and practical development of bilateral defence ties.
Both sides agreed to facilitate the exchange of delegations atall levels, particularly high-level visits and meetings, as well as maintain andimprove the effectiveness of dialogue and consultation mechanisms, includingthe 14th deputy ministerial-level defence policy dialogue in Indiaand the fourth joint field exercise on maintaining peace in Vietnam next month.
Hosting his Japanese counterpart Minoru Kihara,Giang notedthat bilateral defence cooperation has achieved significant progressesrecently. In September, the two sides successfully coordinated the CompetencyEvaluation Programme for Prospective United Nations Peacekeepers (CEPPP) inVietnam. They also effectively fulfilled the co-chairmanship of the ADMMExperts' Working Groups for the 2021-2023 period.
In thecoming time, they agreed to enhance the exchange of delegations and meetings between defenceleaders and roll out cooperation between armed forces, and collaboration in personnel training,cybersecurity, and effective settlement of post-war consequences.
Gen. Giang and his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro promised to activelycoordinate and effectively implement the contents specified in the signedbilateral defence cooperation agreement. They also committed to consulting andsupporting each other at multilateral military-defence forums and adhering tothe common stance of ASEAN on regional issues./.