Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính had talks with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 15 in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính underscored Việt Nam's desire to promote the Comprehensive Partnership with the United States on the basis of respecting each other's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political system, during his meeting with the visiting US State Secretary Antony Blinken in Hà Nội on April 15.

PM Chính believed that this visit, along with the contacts and exchanges between the two countries in the past, particularly the successful high-level phone call between General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Nguyễn Phú Trọng and US President Joe Biden (March 29, 2023) was vivid evidence of the development of the bilateral relationship.

PM Chính also respectfully sent his regards to US President Joe Biden and the country's leaders.

Việt Nam is steadfast in its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, diversifying and multilateralism relations, proactively and positively integrating into the international community, and standing ready to be a reliable partner and an active, responsible member of the international community, according to PM Chính.

He stressed that Việt Nam does not take sides but chooses justice and what is right.

Việt Nam considers the United States as one of its most important partners and hopes to promote the Comprehensive Partnership with the United States based on respecting each other's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political system.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken expressed the pleasure of returning to Việt Nam after more than six years and conveyed President Joe Biden's greetings to Việt Nam's high-level leaders.

He said the US values its relationship with Việt Nam, based on respecting each other's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political system, and that the US supports a strong, independent, self-reliant and prosperous Việt Nam.

Both sides reviewed the outstanding achievements in the relationship. They agreed that the Việt Nam-US relationship had grown increasingly more stable and substantially, bringing practical benefits to both countries and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

The Vietnamese Government leader sincerely thanked the US for providing millions of COVID-19 vaccines to Việt Nam. Secretary Blinken in turn thanked Việt Nam for providing equipment and medical supplies to help the US in the early days of the pandemic.

Both sides expressed their joy over the agreement on the conditions for the construction, renovation and repair of both sides' diplomatic and consular representative offices. They expected that both countries would soon have new representative offices at a scale commensurate with the increasingly deep and comprehensive development of the bilateral relationship.

PM Chính congratulated the ground-breaking ceremony for constructing the new US Embassy campus in Hà Nội this morning.

To further deepen the bilateral relationship, PM Chính proposed that both sides boost exchanges and contacts at all levels. He also suggested that the US Government support cooperation with Việt Nam in overcoming the consequences of the war and continue to support cooperation between the two countries in important areas such as trade and investment, science and technology, education and training, national defence and security, as well as in new areas such as digital economy, green transformation, circular economy, innovation, climate change response, supply chain stability, and infrastructure development.

The PM highlighted the need for both sides to continue promoting harmonious and sustainable trade.

He requested that the US limit anti-dumping and countervailing duties, as well as other unnecessary measures against Việt Nam's exports, especially agricultural products and wood products, which would directly impact the people's livelihoods.

PM Chính suggested that the US create favourable conditions and opportunities for the dynamic and creative Vietnamese community of 2.2 million Vietnamese people in the US to continue integrating into the host country's society, abide by local laws, and contribute to the development of the bilateral relationship.

Secretary Blinken agreed that there is still untapped potential for cooperation between the two countries and that both sides need to continue to promote the relationship based on the principles that the two countries' leadership has agreed upon.

He is strongly committed to further bolstering the Việt Nam-US ties, with a particular focus on the pillars and areas mentioned by the Vietnamese Government leader.

During the talks, PM Chính and Secretary Blinken also discussed concerns about regional and international issues.

The Vietnamese PM hopes the US will continue to play a positive role in contributing to the maintenance of peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions, as well as in the world.

He requested that the US continue to have robust engagements within the framework of the ASEAN-US Comprehensive Partnership and the Mekong-US Partnership and cooperate to ensure maritime and aviation security, safety and freedom in the South China Sea (known in Việt Nam as the East Sea), climate change response, and United Nations' peacekeeping operations.

Secretary Blinken said the US would continue to strengthen its relationship with the region, support ASEAN's central role, and seeks to strengthen further cooperation and support for the Mekong sub-region countries, as well as for dealing with non-traditional security challenges. — VNS