HÀ NỘI – President Trần Đại Quang held a meeting in Hà Nội on Wednesday with a delegation from Laos, comprising those who supported Vietnamese soldiers in performing international missions in Laos during the resistance wars. 

The State leader said the Party, State and people of Việt Nam always keep in mind the great help that the people of Laos gave to Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts during the struggles for liberation in both Việt Nam and Laos.

He expressed his hope that the delegates will continue making contributions to consolidating and strengthening the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two nations. 

He hailed the two countries’ friendship associations’ organising of visits to the old battlefields in Laos for Vietnamese veterans, during which they met with Laotians who had helped them during the wartime, saying such visits are meaningful and reflect great gratitude to those who were devoted to the revolutions of Việt Nam and Laos. 

President Quang suggested the two sides hold diverse activities to mark Việt Nam-Laos Friendship Year 2017, including a Laos- Việt Nam people’s friendship festival in Laos and the publishing of a bilingual book titled “Chung dãy Trường Sơn” (Sharing Trường Sơn range). 

He stressed that the Việt Nam-Laos special friendship and cooperation, founded by presidents Hồ Chí Minh and Kaysone Phomvihane and nurtured by generations of leaders and people of the two countries, played an important role in the success of the past struggles for national independence as well as the current national construction and defence of both countries. 

On the occasion of the 42nd National Day of Laos, President Quang sent greetings to leaders of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP), State and people of Laos, expressing hope that Laos will successfully implement the resolution adopted at the 10th Congress of the LPRP to make the country more prosperous. — VNS