(Bqp.vn) - On March 31, at the Headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army and Deputy Defense Minister General Nguyen Tan Cuong received Lieutenant General Vanthong Bouttavong, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Lao People’s Army.

At the reception.

Speaking at the reception, General Nguyen Tan Cuong affirmed that the visit would contribute to developing the special cooperative relationship between the two armies in the coming time, including Vietnam’s support for Laos to participate in UN peacekeeping operations. He stressed that the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense would assign relevant agencies to discuss and support Laos in performing this task. General Nguyen Tan Cuong also affirmed that UN peacekeeping operations are one of the priorities in Vietnam’s defense foreign policy. This is an important mechanism in the process of implementing Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, diversification, proactiveness, and active international integration.

General Nguyen Tan Cuong presenting a souvenir to Lieutenant General Vanthong Bouttavong.

General Nguyen Tan Cuong emphasized that during the official visit to Vietnam by Lieutenant General Saichay Kommasith, Deputy Minister of National Defense, Chief of the General Staff of the Lao People’s Army in March 2025, the two sides agreed on Vietnam’s support for Laos in building a peacekeeping force. This visit affirmed Laos’ political determination to participate in UN peacekeeping operations.

General Nguyen Tan Cuong and delegates in a joint photo.

For his part, Lieutenant General Vanthong Bouttavong thanked General Nguyen Tan Cuong for the reception; informing about the results of the meaningful and effective working session between the delegation and the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations earlier the same day; congratulating Vietnam’s achievements in participating in UN peacekeeping operations in recent times. He also affirmed that Vietnam’s experiences in participating in UN peacekeeping operations would be valuable lessons for the Lao People’s Army to build a peacekeeping force. Laos hoped that Vietnam would help in areas such as building a legal corridor for participating in UN peacekeeping operations; building infrastructure, offices; training forces, including sending Lao People’s Army forces to Vietnam for specialized training in peacekeeping operations, he added.