Vietnam-India defence ties strongly developing: Deputy Minister
Defence relations between
Vietnam and India have been growing vigorously over the past years with
more and more areas included, said Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister
Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh.
During his interview granted to
Vietnam News Agency reporters on the sidelines of the ninth bilateral
defence strategic dialogue in New Delhi, the deputy defence minister
said the expanding defence cooperation between the two countries can be
attributed to the defence dialogue mechanism at the deputy ministerial
level which was set up in 2007. The mechanism provides a venue for the
two countries to discuss security issues of common concern and define
specific measures and projects for more extensive and result-oriented
cooperation.
He noted that the establishment of a strategic
partnership in 2007 has resulted in strong developments in bilateral
ties in all fields from politics, economy, and culture-society to
defence, security, and religion.
In the realm of defence
cooperation, the strategic partnership also allows Vietnam and India to
build deep and firm mutual trust as well as expand their joint
activities, ranging from personnel training, delegation exchange to
defence technology.
At this year’s dialogue, the two sides
started out on working together in high-technology such as information
technology and mechanical engineering to serve the defence industry, he
added.
The Deputy Minister said he strongly believes in the
sustainable development of Vietnam-India relations, including defence
ties, since they share a number of strategic interests as well as
opportunities and challenges during the national construction and
protection.-VNA