Deputy Prime Minister, Defence Minister General Phan Văn Giang (right) had talks with United States Ambassador to Việt Nam Jennifer Wicks McNamara on November 3 in Hà Nội, — Photo from the Ministry of Defence

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence General Phan Văn Giang, received United States Ambassador to Việt Nam Jennifer Wicks McNamara in Hà Nội on Thursday, where the two sides discussed measures to advance bilateral defence ties.

At the meeting, General Giang congratulated the ambassador on her tenure in Việt Nam and expressed hope that she would make positive contributions to strengthening friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

He described defence cooperation as an important pillar of Việt Nam–US relations, noting that bilateral collaboration had been effectively implemented across various fields, including exchanges of delegations, consultations and dialogue, war legacy remediation, training, United Nations peacekeeping operations, cooperation between military services, cybersecurity, military medicine, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and defence industry.

The minister reaffirmed that Việt Nam's Ministry of National Defence would continue to prioritise cooperation in addressing the consequences of war, building on the effective implementation of a memorandum of understanding signed by the two sides in October 2025.

He welcomed the signing of two cooperation documents under the Life-Saving Partnership Agreement (LSPA) framework on September 23, 2026, covering a dioxin remediation project at Biên Hòa airbase and a project to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities in localities heavily affected by Agent Orange.

Regarding efforts to search for US personnel missing in action during the war, General Giang affirmed that Việt Nam would continue to create favourable conditions for US search operations.

He also called on the US side to increase the sharing of information, documents and personal artefacts relating to Vietnamese soldiers who died during the war, helping facilitate the search for, recovery and identification of fallen soldiers' remains.

The defence minister also spoke highly of Ambassador Wicks' recent participation in a scientific workshop chaired by the ministry on strengthening DNA identification capacity for fallen soldiers' remains.

The minister announced that Việt Nam would host its third International Defence Expo in Hà Nội in December 2026, welcoming the participation of senior leaders and officials from the US Department of War, as well as American defence enterprises.

He expressed hope that US companies would showcase modern defence equipment at the event, contributing to its overall success.

General Giang expressed confidence that, with the ambassador's support, bilateral defence cooperation would continue to develop effectively in line with the overall relationship between the two countries, contributing to peace, stability and development in the region and the world.

For her part, Ambassador Wicks thanked the minister for receiving the delegation and expressed satisfaction with the close cooperation between the US diplomatic mission and Việt Nam's defence ministry.

She affirmed her commitment to promoting bilateral cooperation in areas of shared interest, particularly defence and security, defence industry and war legacy remediation, in line with the Việt Nam–US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The ambassador also expressed appreciation for Việt Nam's efforts in addressing war consequences and supporting the search for US personnel missing in action.

She reaffirmed US support for Việt Nam's 500-day campaign to accelerate the search for, recovery and identification of fallen soldiers' remains.

Ambassador Wicks also briefed the minister on the participation of US companies in the 2026 International Defence Expo in Hà Nội, expressing her hope that the two sides would further strengthen exchanges and make defence cooperation increasingly substantive and effective. — VNA/VNS