Scene of the virtual consultation on January 6. – Photo mod.gov.vn

HÀ NỘI – An official of the Ministry of National Defence (MoD) has affirmed the ministry’s support for its Cambodian counterpart’s chairmanship of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM Plus in 2022, according to the Quân đội Nhân dân (People's Army) daily.

Lt. Gen. Lay Chenda, Deputy Director-General of the Cambodian MoD’s General Department of Policy and Foreign Affairs and head of the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting Working Group (ADSOM WG) of Cambodia, had a virtual consultation on January 6 with Col. Vũ Thành Văn, Director of the Vietnamese MoD’s Department of Foreign Affairs and head of the ADSOM WG of Việt Nam.

Lay Chenda spoke about the themes of the upcoming ASEAN defence - military meetings, the Cambodian MoD’s priorities when it serves as the Chair of the ADMM and ADMM Plus this year, and the agenda within the framework of the ADMM and ADMM Plus.

He also consulted with the Vietnamese side about the draft documents built by the Cambodia MoD.

Highlighting the Vietnamese ministry’s support, Văn expressed his belief that the Cambodian MoD will successfully fulfil its role in 2002, thereby further contributing to the solidarity and collective strength of ASEAN to flexibly and proactively respond to security challenges in the region.

He lauded efforts by the Cambodian side in drafting documents, noting that he hopes the draft joint statements of the 16th ADMM and 9th ADMM Plus will fully reflect the issues of common concern in the region as shown in previous joint statements.

Văn also made comments on the Cambodian MoD’s new initiatives for the ADMM and ADMM Plus in 2022.

On this occasion, the official announced the implementation plan for Việt Nam’s initiative to place the ASEAN flag beside the national flags of ASEAN countries at their military units joining the UN peacekeeping operations this year. — VNS