HÀ NỘI — The 22nd Assembly of the World Peace Council (WPC) will focus on calling for international solidarity and joint efforts for peace, cooperation and sustainable development, stated Uông Chu Lưu, Chairman of the Việt Nam Peace Committee (VPC), in an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of Việt Nam's hosting of the event from November 21-26 in Quảng Ninh Province.

At the event, Việt Nam hopes to promote the image of its nation and people, especially in the renewal period, and popularise the country’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, development cooperation, multilateralisation, and diversification; being a friend to all countries and partners in the principle of not interfering in each other’s internal affairs and respect to each other’s dependence and self-reliance; and being a positive member of the international community.

Lưu emphasised that this is also an opportunity for Việt Nam to show gratitude to international friends, including the WPC and its member organisations over the past seven decades, for accompanying, supporting and showing solidarity with Vietnamese people both in the past and present.

For Việt Nam, the event also provides a chance to enhance the awareness of the community, especially in the younger generation, of the role and value of peace in national construction and defence, as well as the significance of international solidarity and support from international friends to the success of the Vietnamese revolution.

Highlighting the special historical relationship between the WPC and Việt Nam, Lưu said that from the very beginning, President Hồ Chí Minh and the Party clearly saw the important role of the WPC and the need to connect Việt Nam with this international organisation. Viet Nam sent 11 delegates to participate in the founding Congress of the World Peace Council in 1949. The Congress honoured President Hồ Chí Minh as the No. 1 soldier for peace and Honorary Chairman of the World Committee for the Peace Protection of Vietnam.

Over the past 70 years, the WPC has always given Việt Nam noble international solidarity and strong support, both in the past struggle for peace, national independence, and liberation and the present renewal, construction and defence of the Fatherland, he said.

Lưu also reviewed a number of important milestones in the relations between the WPC and Việt Nam.

In 1950, at the WPC’s second Assembly in Warsaw, it issued a statement supporting the Vietnamese people's resistance against the French colonialists.

In 2017, Việt Nam successfully hosted the Conference of the Executive Committee of the council in Hà Nội, with the highlight being the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Russian October Revolution.

The WPC established the Hồ Chí Minh Prize in 1980, which was presented to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat the same year and Namibian leader Sam Nujoma, and Sandinista National Liberation Front of South Africa in 1986. This has affirmed the role and prestige of Việt Nam and the Việt Nam Peace Committee to the WPC, stated Lưu.

Regarding the reason why the WPC chooses Việt Nam to host its 22nd Assembly, Luu said that the role and engagement of Việt Nam, a founding member of the WPC, in the council’s operations have been recognised by international friends and members of the council.

Việt Nam is a peaceful and stable country that is on the process of innovation, integration and development, he said, adding that Vietnamese people have a tradition of patriotism, love for peace, and are very friendly, hospitable, loyal, and affectionate.

During the past 35 years, the country has accomplished great and comprehensive achievements in all fields, including control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the global crisis over the past two years, Việt Nam still enjoyed positive socio-economic results. These are among the factors persuading the WPC members that Việt Nam is a suitable place to organise the 22nd Assembly, said Lưu.

He added that the Việt Nam Union of Friendship Organisations has full capacity and experience to host major multilateral diplomatic events.

Currently, Việt Nam has drawn great attention from international friends and WPC members who are interested in exploring its achievements and experience in advancing to socialism. The event is a chance to show that the choosing of the Party, State and people of Việt Nam is proper, and the vitality of the road to socialism in Việt Nam has brought about achievements that international friends have recognised and are very impressed with, he said.

Lưu stressed that today, Việt Nam’s engagement in world peacekeeping has not limited in protesting, preventing new world wars or nuclear wars, minimising arms races, fighting terrorism, racism or inequality, but the concept of peacekeeping and protection has been expanded. Peace is not just the absence of war, but it is a matter of development, the environment, human rights, justice and righteousness.

Việt Nam needs to demonstrate its participation on a broader scale to further contribute to the preservation of sustainable peace on this earth, he stressed.

The WPC, an organisation leading the world peace movement, gathers 135 organisations of communist and left-wing parties in more than 100 countries. From an international anti-imperialist movement of the masses, after more than 70 years of development, it has become part of the world peace movement closely cooperating with international movements and countries to promote peace around the globe. — VNS