The visit to India by the high-ranking Vietnamese military mission led by Minister of National Defence General Phung Quang Thanh will contribute to strengthening the friendship and mutual understanding between the two armies and the two peoples.

This was stated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the reception given to visiting General Phung Quang Thanh and his entourage in New Delhi on May 25th.

The Indian PM expressed his pleasure at the development of the relationship between the two countries over the past time, including defence cooperation, and affirmed that India would always attach importance to boosting the friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with Vietnam.

Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

General Phung Quang Thanh, in turn, thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his warm reception to the Vietnamese high-ranking military mission, congratulated India on recent achievements in its national socio-economic development and its increasing position in the region and international arena, and believed that India with its effort would harvest more fruits in the time to come.

On this occasion, the Vietnamese Minister of National Defence expressed deep thanks to India for its great support for the Vietnamese people in their national resistance wars in the past, and also in their current national construction and defence cause.

The guest also informed the host of the outcomes of the bilateral defence cooperation and thanked the Indian Government in general and the Indian Prime Minister in particular for creating favourable conditions to beef up the two Defence Ministries’ cooperation.

General Phung Quang Thanh underlined that Vietnam and India are enjoying a time-honoured and sound traditional friendship and close bonds, which were founded by President Ho Chi Minh and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and have been nurtured and fostered by the leaders and people of the generations of both countries. The Vietnamese people and the Vietnam People’s Army will do their utmost to cultivate the bilateral ties.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held that India is a close friend of Vietnam and that India considers Vietnam a pillar in its Look East policy. India will continue develop ties with Vietnam in five major fields, including defence cooperation, in order to make their relationship appropriate to the Vietnam-India strategic partnership.

Vietnamese and Indian defence delegations led by the two defence ministers hold talk

The same day, General Phung Quang Thanh held talks with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar at the Headquarters of the Indian Defence Ministry.On this occasion the two sides exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern, and reviewed their cooperation results over the past time, especially in delegation exchanges, experience sharing between military corps and training cooperation for the VPA’s officers, within the framework of the memorandum of understanding on bilateral defence cooperation signed in 2009.

They proposed measures to strengthen cooperation in promoting delegation exchanges at all levels, enhancing quality of dialogue and consulting mechanisms, education and training, defence industry, and sharing information and experience in carrying out UN peacekeeping operations, for the sake of the two peoples and for peace, stability and development in the region.

At the end of the event, the two Defence Ministers inked the Joint Vision Statement on Vietnam-India Defence Cooperation for the 2015-2020 period, and oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding on coast guard cooperation.

* During the visit to India, General Phung Quang Thanh also met with National Security Advisor of India Ajit Kumar Doval, Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Indian Navy Chief Admiral R.K. Dhowan and Vice Chief of Indian Air Force Air Marshal R.K. Sharma; visited the Vietnamese Embassy in India; and laid wreath at the Monument to Unknown Martyrs at India Gate in New Delhi.

Source: qdnd.vn