Lieutenant General Phùng Sĩ Tấn (right), Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Việt Nam People's Army and Deputy Head of the Steering Committee of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense for participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UN PKO), meets Ricardo Montero Agüiende, Deputy Minister of Defence of Chile. — VNA/VNS Photo

CHILE — In the overall sound bilateral relationship, defence cooperation is one of the areas that the senior leadership of both Việt Nam and Chile pays special attention to.

Lieutenant General Phùng Sĩ Tấn, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Việt Nam People's Army and Deputy Head of the Steering Committee of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence for participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UN PKO), made the remarks in a working session on Monday afternoon (local time) with Ricardo Montero Agüiende, Deputy Minister of Defence of Chile.

The two leaders met at the headquarters of Chile’s Ministry of Defence within the framework of Lieutenant General Tấn’s official visit to Chile.

On behalf of the Vietnamese delegation of the Defence Ministry Steering Committee, Lieutenant General Tấn sincerely thanked the Chilean defence ministry for taking the time to welcome and meet the delegation, stressing the significance of this visit amid the continuously strengthened, substantive, and effective development of the Comprehensive Partnership between Việt Nam and Chile, especially following the Vietnamese President Lương Cường’s official visit to Chile in November 2024.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on defence cooperation by both Ministers of Defence and the establishment of the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence’s Permanent Defence Attaché Office in Chile since April last year have laid a solid foundation for expanding defence cooperation, including in the field of UN PKO.

At the working session, Lieutenant General Tấn highly appreciated Chile’s extensive experience in UN peacekeeping activities since 1949, particularly in Africa and Haiti, and expressed his desire to promote cooperation between the two countries in this field.

He further informed that although Việt Nam only started participating in UN PKO last year, it has deployed nearly 1,100 troops to missions in the Central African Republic, the Republic of South Sudan, and the Abyei area; including three engineering teams and six level-2 field hospital teams, with female soldiers accounting for more than 16 per cent.

Based on practical deployment experiences and the need to expand peacekeeping forces in the future, Lieutenant General Tấn requested Chile’s support in promoting cooperation in specific areas such as high-level delegation exchanges; sharing of professional experience; training and instruction in English and peacekeeping skills; jointly organising seminars and specialised training courses.

He also proposed making full use of the role of the Vietnamese Defence Attaché Office in Chile and the Chilean Embassy in Hà Nội as bridges to enhance relationships between the two countries’ peacekeeping agencies.

For his part, Chilean Deputy Minister of Defence Ricardo Montero Agüiende expressed his pleasure in welcoming the Vietnamese defence ministry delegation and his delight in cooperating with Việt Nam, a country with which Chile enjoys thriving relations.

Although Chile’s participation in UN peacekeeping forces has decreased over the past decade, it highly values Việt Nam’s involvement and support for UN peacekeeping activities, particularly in challenging and unstable areas like the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Abyei.

He affirmed Chile's readiness to cooperate, share experience, and strengthen exchanges with Việt Nam in the field of peacekeeping on the basis of understanding, friendship, and for peace and sustainable development.

Lieutenant General Tấn also affirmed that Việt Nam consistently pursues an independent, autonomous, peaceful, friendly, multilateral and diversified foreign policy, proactively engaging in international integration; and is ready to participate in humanitarian and global disaster relief activities.

In recent years, the Việt Nam People’s Army has actively participated in search and rescue missions in Turkey (February 2023) and Myanmar (March this year), earning high international appreciation.

The working session concluded in a friendly, open, and constructive atmosphere. Both sides expressed confidence that, based on the solid foundation of friendship and the strong commitment from the leadership of the two ministries of defence, Việt Nam – Chile defence cooperation, especially in the field of UN peacekeeping, will increasingly develop deeply and effectively.

The Vietnamese delegation lays flowers to commemorate President Hồ Chí Minh in front of his statue in Hồ Chí Minh Park, located in the capital city of Santiago de Chile. — VNA/VNS Photo

Later that afternoon, Lieutenant General Tấn and the delegation laid flowers to commemorate President Hồ Chí Minh in front of his statue in Hồ Chí Minh Park, located in the capital city of Santiago de Chile.

According to the schedule, on Tuesday, the delegation will continue their visit and working session at the Chilean Peacekeeping Operations Combined Centre to discuss more specific cooperation contents in the near future. — VNS