HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s permanent mission to the United Nations has held a ceremony to pay tribute to President Trần Đại Quang and opened a condolence book in the wake of his death.

Large numbers of overseas Vietnamese, ambassadors and representatives from delegations to the UN, international organisations in New York and local officials attended the mission’s headquarters to pay their respects to the Vietnamese President.

The heads of State and Government along with senior officials of many countries, who are in New York for the 73rd  UN General Assembly, also paid tribute to President Trần Đại Quang.

Writing in the funeral book, the guests expressed their deep condolences to the Government and people of Việt Nam over the death of the Vietnamese President.

Việt Nam’s Embassy in Indonesia on September 26 opened a condolence book for President Trần Đại Quang.

Delegates from Vietnamese businesses and the Vietnamese community in Indonesia joined staff at the embassy and Việt Nam’s representative agencies in Jakarta in paying tribute to the President.

Representatives from foreign diplomatic missions in Indonesia also came to pay their last respects.

“President Trần Đại Quang in not only a great leader of the Vietnamese people but also the person who made important contributions to deepening the friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive co-operation between Việt Nam and Laos,” the Lao Ambassador to Indonesia, Phavanh Nuanthasing, wrote in the condolence book.

The remembrance period for President Quang at the embassy will last until 5pm on September 27.

Also on September 26, the ASEAN Committee of Permanent Representatives held a minute’s silence in memory of the Vietnamese President before the opening of the committee’s 17th meeting in Jakarta.

On behalf of ASEAN member countries, the head of the Singaporean mission to ASEAN offered his condolences to President Trần Đại Quang’s family and the Government and people of Việt Nam.

The flag is being flown at half-mast at the ASEAN Secretariat’s headquarters in Jakarta from September 25 to 27. The Australian flag was also hoisted at half mast at all buildings of public agencies in all the states nationwide on Wednesday to commemorate the Vietnamese President.

Việt Nam’s embassies in other countries and territories including Cambodia, Cuba, China, Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Turkey, Israel, Eygpt and India also organised respect-paying ceremonies and opened condolence books for President Trần Đại Quang.

President Trần Đại Quang passed away at 10:05am on September 21 in Hà Nội at the age of 62 due to serious illness. — VNS