Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Nghia and Chief of Staff of the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force General (JGSDF) Yoshida Yoshihide inspect the guards of honour. (Photo: VNA)

The two sides highly valued achievements obtained in the cooperation of the countries’ ground forces, which contribute to the extensive, practical and efficient development of the Vietnam-Japan bilateral defence cooperation.

Lt. Gen. Nghia affirmed that the VPA General Staff stands ready to join hands with the JGSDF in the effective implementation of cooperation programmes, including capacity building in United Nations peacekeeping operations; search and rescue; and military medicine, among others.

For his part, Gen. Yoshida expressed his belief that with due attention and support by leaders of the defence ministries, together with efforts by relevant agencies, the countries’ defence cooperation in general and collaboration between ground forces in particular will continue to flourish, aligning with the Japan-Vietnam extensive strategic partnership in the new development period.

Japan hopes that the two sides will effectively maintain current cooperation fields in the coming time, and seek new ones of common concern and high feasibility.

During the talks, the sides exchanged viewpoints on global and regional security issues of shared concern.

Vietnam has been pursuing a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development as well as diversification and multilateralisation of external relations, Lt. Gen. Nghia reiterated.

He affirmed the country’s persistent stance of solving all disputes, including the East Sea issue, through peaceful measures in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Vietnam welcomes initiatives and ideas contributing to peace, stability and cooperation in each region and the world, the official said.