Delegates at the defence talks. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – New Zealand’s Chief of the Defense Force Air Marshal Kevin Short on Monday hosted a reception for Senior Lieutenant General Nguyễn Tân Cương, Chief of the General Staff of the Việt Nam People’s Army and Deputy Minister of National Defence, in Wellington.

In their talks, the two officials expressed their delight at the active, intensive, and practical development of the strategic partnership between Việt Nam and New Zealand, in line with signed agreements, contributing to peace, stability, and common development of the two countries, and of the region and the world.

Both sides highlighted the effective implementation of the bilateral defence ties to meet each side’s needs and strengths based on the memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation signed this year.

They agreed that despite the huge impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two ministries had maintained high-level contacts at ministerial and deputy ministerial levels and defence cooperation dialogue, and defence consultation mechanisms via virtual formats.

In addition, the two militaries had proactively participated in multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) and Experts’ Working Groups within ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+), thus joining hands with other countries to uphold regional and global peace, stability and development.

Based on the two countries’ strategic partnership, the two sides agreed that there was ample room for bilateral defence ties to develop.

To bolster the cooperation between the Việt Nam People’s Army and the Defense Force of New Zealand, the two sides were unanimous to concentrate on such fields as the exchange of delegations at all levels, consultation-dialogue mechanisms, personnel training, and participation in UN peacekeeping missions.

They also agreed to consider the expansion of fields in which both sides have demand and capability such as cyber security, military medicine, and cooperation between training facilities and respective defence industries.

In addition, both sides reached an agreement on strengthening consultations and cooperation at multilateral mechanisms to which both countries are members, particularly the ADMM+’s Experts’ Working Groups, to improve Việt Nam’s international integration in terms of defence and reinforce the ASEAN - New Zealand strategic partnership.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Vietnamese Chief of the General Staff visited the New Zealand Command and Staff College. VNS