Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh and UK Minister of State for Defence Baroness Goldie co-chaired the second defence policy dialogue at the deputy ministerial level in Hanoi on September 30.

Vietnam, UK hold the second defence policy dialogue (Source: mod.gov.vn)

Both sides laid stress on the purpose and significance of the Vietnam-UK defence policy dialogue and hailed the positive development in bilateral defence ties in recent times, especially after they renewed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral defence cooperation and successfully held the first dialogue.

They highlighted the growing defence cooperation between the two nations across a multitude of fields, such as English training, logistics, hydrograph and defense industry.

The two sides underscored the need to intensify delegation exchange at all levels, particularly high-ranking delegations in order to deepen mutual understanding.

Vietnamese Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich is due to make an official visit to the UK in the time ahead, Vinh said while affirming Vietnam’s willingness to facilitate the next visits by UK Navy ships to the Southeast Asian nation.

He urged the UK to continue exchanging experience in military medicine, UN peacekeeping and strengthening exchanges between the two armies’ young officers. 

Vinh proposed that the UK side support and increase English training for Vietnamese military personnel, saying that the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence is ready to receive British army officers who desire to study Vietnamese language in Vietnam.

He also suggested both sides should step up cooperation and offer mutual support at multilateral forums.

The same day, Vietnamese Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich hosted a reception for Baroness Goldie, during which the host stated his appreciation for the bilateral defence cooperation in the recent past, as well as effective assistance from the British Ministry of Defence in deploying the second level-2 field hospital in South Sudan and in teaching English to Vietnam’s UN peacekeeping forces.

He highlighted the defence policy dialogue as a foundation and an important cooperation mechanism for enhancing defence links between Vietnam and the UK.