Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (R) receives  Lao Minister of Public Security Somkeo Silavong in Hà Nội on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has asked for closer coordination with Laos in preventing cross-border crimes, such as drug trafficking, and ensuring security along the shared border.

During a meeting in Hà Nội on Thursday with Lao Minister of Public Security Somkeo Silavong, who is also Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee, the PM expressed his hope that the public security ministries of the two countries will continue supporting each other in protecting security and social order. 

The two ministries should maintain meetings between top officials and local police to exchange information and experience.

They should also strengthen co-operation on personnel training, he added. 

The two sides should also work together to foil sabotage aimed at inciting ethnic minorities, while preventing crime and hunting criminals, ensuring a shared border of peace, stability and development. 

PM Phúc pledged support for Laos in its national construction and development. 

For his part, Somkeo Silavong briefed the host on the outcome of his talks with the leader of the Ministry of Public Security.

The two ministries agreed to implement their co-operation in accordance with agreements reached between leaders of the two Parties, States and Governments, especially amidst the changing world situation, he said. 

He also underscored the importance of security affiliation between the two countries, noting that the two sides should continue fighting all schemes of hostile forces to destroy bilateral relations. 

Minister of Public Security, Senior Lieutenant Tô Lâm, lauded the fruitful co-operation between the two ministries in exchanging international and regional information related to national security and social order in each country, he noted. 

The two sides should also collaborate in raiding cross-border drug trafficking rings and hunting criminals, ensure utmost security and safety during visits and meetings of Party and State leaders, and create favourable conditions for citizens of each country to live and work legally in the other. 

The two ministers also signed 2017 co-operation minutes. — VNS