Vietnam, Laos hold defense policy dialogue

(Bqp.vn) - On March 20th, the 4th Vietnam - Laos Defense Policy Dialogue took place in Dien Bien Phu City of Vietnam. Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien and Senior Lieutenant General Vongkham Phommakone, Deputy Defense Minister of Laos co-chaired the event.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien (R) and his Lao counterpart Vongkham Phommakone.

At the dialogue, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien and Senior Lieutenant General Vongkham Phommakone agreed that in recent times, the Vietnam - Laos defense cooperation has achieved practical results, creating a high impact on friendship between the two governments, armies and peoples, especially in fields of exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-level ones; dialogue and consultation mechanisms; border management and protection; training; consultation and support for each other at multilateral forums and mechanisms, particularly those led by ASEAN.

At the dialogue.

During the discussion on the worldwide and regional circumstances, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien spoke highly of ASEAN’s role in shaping and maintaining the regional security structure, as well as promoting substantial cooperation among member countries and between ASEAN and its partners. He hoped that as the ASEAN Chair in 2024, Laos will effectively run the bloc’s cooperation mechanisms and continue developing the ASEAN community.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan speaking at the dialogue.

Senior Lieutenant General Vongkham Phommakone speaking at the dialogue.

Regarding the direction of cooperation in the coming time, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien and Senior Lieutenant General Vongkham Phommakone agreed that the two sides should continue to promote cooperation on the basis of signed agreements, focusing on fields of exchange delegations at all levels; border management and protection; training; logistics - engineering; economic and defense cooperation; consultation and mutual support at multilateral mechanisms.

They agreed to assign delegations of experts from the two ministries to review and evaluate the outcomes of the implementation of the protocol for the 2020-2024 period and recommend collaboration contents for the 2025-2029 period.

The two sides signing the 4th Vietnam - Laos Defense Policy Dialogue Minutes.

At the end of the dialogue, the two delegation leaders signed the 4th Vietnam - Laos Defense Policy Dialogue Minutes.