Party General Secretary Tô Lâm meets leaders of the General Department of Politics of the Việt Nam People’s Army ahead of a working session in Hà Nội on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — Party General Secretary Tô Lâm underscored the importance of building a politically strong military that is closely connected to the people.

He was speaking during a working session with the General Department of Politics of the Việt Nam People’s Army (VPA) on Wednesday. 

This will act as the foundation for enhancing the overall quality and combat strength of the armed forces, he said.

At the event, General Trịnh Văn Quyết, head of the department, delivered a report on the outcomes of its Party and political work in the first half of 2025 and outlined key tasks for the future.

Highlights included comprehensive measures to improve the quality and effectiveness of political education and ideological leadership; strict implementation of directions from the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission and its Standing Committee at all levels; and the dissemination of major policy reforms, especially the nationwide administrative restructuring.

The VPA General Department of Politics also led efforts in protecting the Party’s ideological foundation and contributing to national political events, military, defence and foreign affairs missions.

In the near future, the department and its units are expected to continue proactively conducting strategic research and forecasts to advise the Party on building a politically strong military. It will further unify the armed forces in ideology and action to implement the Party’s breakthrough policies and directions, and build a modern military.

Speaking at the working session, Party chief Tô Lâm stressed that the VPA General Department of Politics is a strategically vital advisory body, responsible for all Party and political work in the military, and playing a central role in the military’s structure and operations. 

On behalf of the Party, State, and Central Military Commission, he praised the achievements of the VPA General Department of Politics in recent years and in the first half of 2025.

In the new context, he urged the department to enhance research and proposals to perfect the Party’s leadership over the military and national defence, which is considered both a fundamental task and a guiding principle in building the People’s Army.

The department must also work to strengthen the role and authority of the Central Military Commission in directing national military and defence tasks across the political system, ensuring swift, unified and effective responses to any situation.

It is also required to strictly implement Party policies on military and defence affairs, ensuring all directives and resolutions from the Party Central Committee, Politburo, Secretariat, and Central Military Commission are thoroughly disseminated and effectively implemented across the armed forces. 

In the face of emerging forms of warfare, new operational environments and strategic spaces, building the political and spiritual will for soldiers becomes all the more crucial, the Party leader said.

These elements ensure that officers and soldiers are ready to confront hardships and challenges with confidence in Vietnamese military art, and fight with skill and determination against any enemy force.

Party chief Lâm also emphasised the need to build a comprehensively strong General Department of Politics, with highly capable and ethical officers at the core to fulfil its tasks as a strategic advisory body on Party work and political affairs.

The department must advise and direct the effective promotion of the role of the military’s judicial bodies, contributing to maintaining discipline and order, preventing and combating corruption, wastefulness and misconduct within the army. It must also lead the development of military press agencies for effective communication work.

The Party leader also instructed the VPA General Department of Politics to advise the Central Military Commission on the successful organisation of Party congresses at all levels, ensuring feasible policies and decisions. 

General Secretary Lâm expressed his confidence that with 80 years of tradition and under the absolute leadership of the Party Central Committee, Politburo, and Secretariat, as well asthe direct and regular leadership of the Central Military Commission, the General Department of Politics will continue to fulfil its role as the agency in charge of Party and political work in the military. — VNS