Việt Nam's former Party General Secretary Nông Đức Mạnh meets with Lao Party General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith on Tuesday. — Photo baochinhphu.vn

HÀ NỘI — General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith on Tuesday paid a visit to Nông Đức Mạnh, former General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Việt Nam.

At the meeting, Mạnh said that the Lao leader’s state visit to Việt Nam helps reaffirm the foreign policies of both countries, which places special importance on preserving and continuously strengthening their great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation, and strategic cohesion.

He expressed his delight at witnessing the great and historically significant achievements that the Party, State, and people of Laos have attained after 40 years of renewal.

He voiced his firm belief that under the leadership of the LPRP, headed by General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith, Laos will continue to develop stably and sustainably, with its people's improved living standards and an increasingly strengthened international position.

On this occasion, he respectfully extended his warm regards and best wishes for good health to former Party General Secretary and President of Laos, Choummaly Sayasone and former Party General Secretary and President Bounnhang Vorachith.

For his part, Party General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith sincerely thanked the Party, State, and people of Việt Nam for their wholehearted, sincere, selfless, and effective support and assistance to Laos during its past struggle for national independence as well as its current national construction and development.

He expressed his deep impression of Việt Nam’s major and comprehensive achievements in recent years, affirming that these accomplishments are closely linked to the important contributions of previous generations of Vietnamese leaders, including former General Secretary Mạnh.

The Lao leader stressed that this visit, with the participation of many senior leaders from Lao ministries and agencies, demonstrates the strong political determination of the Lao Party and State to work closely with Việt Nam to implement high-level resolutions and agreements.

He stressed their shared commitment to further nurturing the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation, and strategic cohesion between Việt Nam and Laos, making the relationship ever more solid, effective, and practical.

Both sides affirmed that the special Việt Nam-Laos relationship, diligently nurtured by Vietnamese President Hồ Chí Minh and Lao Presidents Kaysone Phomvihane and Souphanouvong, is an invaluable common asset and a vital factor for the existence and development of both nations.

They agreed to continue preserving, protecting, and deepening the rare and special ties, to enhance strategic connectivity, to improve the effectiveness of substantive cooperation, and to place greater emphasis on educating the younger generations of both countries so that they may carry forward the special solidarity. — VNA/VNS