HÀ NỘI — Defence Minister General Ngô Xuân Lịch on Friday held talks with his Cambodian counterpart Tea Banh, who is here for a working visit from December 19-22 and to attend the 30th All-People Defence Festival and 75th founding anniversary of the Việt Nam People’s Army.

At the event, Lịch affirmed that the Cambodian minister’s visit is important to review the results of the cooperation between the two defence ministries during 2015-2019 and pen a roadmap for the following years.

Both sides shared the view that defence cooperation has practically benefited both sides and become a pillar in the bilateral relations of the two countries, with competent agencies joining hands to fully carry out the protocol on defence collaboration during 2015-2019, and the cooperative plan in 2019 between the two defence ministries.

They particularly highlighted political education, describing it as a significant factor to promote the good neighbourliness between the two peoples and armies, ensure security and safety in border areas, defeat all sabotage plots and activities of hostile forces to harm the Việt Nam-Cambodia friendship, and complete cooperative mechanisms, including the defence policy dialogue at the deputy ministerial level.

In addition, the two armies have intensified their partnership in logistics, technology and defence industry, while the search and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts in Cambodia bore good results. Besides, more attention was paid to high-quality human resources training to meet the requirements of the armed forces in each nation in the new development phase.

In the future, the two sides agreed to step up communications to raise the youths’ awareness of the friendship and solidarity between the two peoples and armies, and work to prevent hostile forces from undermining the solidarity between the two nations, among others.

Both ministries will continue improving the efficiency of their cooperative mechanisms, especially the defence policy dialogue, shaping cooperative contents, and enhancing delegation exchanges at all levels.

They will work together to ensure security and safety along the shared borderline, improve quality of military education training, and promote the search and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts during wartime in Cambodia.

General Lịch and General Tea Banh signed a protocol on cooperation during 2020-2024 and a cooperative plan for 2020 between the two defence ministries. — VNS