On August 6, at the Ministry of National Defense headquarters, General Phan Văn Giang - Member of the Politburo, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of National Defense, chaired the welcoming ceremony and meeting with Japanese Minister of National Defense Kihara Minoru who is paying an official visit to Vietnam.
After the official welcoming ceremony, General Phan Văn Giang and Minister Kihara Minoru conducted a meeting. At the meeting, General Phan Văn Giang emphasized that Minister Kihara Minoru's visit to Vietnam has further deepened the good relationship between the two countries, the comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world established in 2023, including cooperation between the two countries' defense ministries.
General Phan Văn Giang affirmed that in recent times, along with the development of the good relationship between the two countries, bilateral defense relations have been continuously expanded and deepened, becoming one of the important pillars of the relationship between the two countries, particularly in areas such as: Post-war consequences; training; search and rescue; United Nations peacekeeping; and regular consultations on regional forums, especially within the framework of ADMM+...
Regarding the direction of cooperation in the coming time, General Phan Văn Giang proposed that the two sides continue to promote defense cooperation to enter a new development stage, effectiveness, and in line with the comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world. In which, focus on some key areas such as: Delegation exchange, contact at all levels, especially at the high level; continue to maintain the effectiveness of annual dialogue and consultation mechanisms between the two sides; cooperation in training; cooperation in military branches; defense industry, technology transfer; post-war consequences; United Nations peacekeeping; continue to strengthen consultation and coordination at multilateral mechanisms that both sides participate in, thereby contributing to promoting and implementing effectively the ASEAN-Japan comprehensive strategic partnership. Japanese Minister of National Defense Kihara Minoru believes that this visit to Vietnam will further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world established in 2023 and promote defense cooperation in areas of mutual interest to develop further in the coming time.
At the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on the world and regional situation. On the issue of the sea, General Phan Văn Giang emphasized that Vietnam consistently pursues the policy of resolving all disputes by peaceful means based on international law, commitments in the region, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1982, the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and promoting the negotiation of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) effectively.
After the meeting, General Phan Văn Giang and Minister Kihara Minoru exchanged a letter of agreement and a document on the implementation of Japan's transfer of 2 multi-purpose material transport vehicles to serve search and rescue activities to Vietnam.
