Policy dialogue intensifies Vietnam-US defence cooperation

Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh

From October 15-18, Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh attended the defence policy dialogue in Washington DC and held a series of meetings with US officials, parliamentarians and representatives of some organisations to talk bilateral relations.

He told the Vietnam News Agency that he made the working visit to the US shortly after a trip by Defence Minister Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich. Therefore, the dialogue mainly aimed to realise the contents reached by Minister Lich and US Secretary of Defence James Mattis.

At the event, the two sides discussed and concurred in the main content of defence cooperation from 2018 to 2021, he noted, adding that cooperation in war consequences settlement in Vietnam was one of the focal issues under consideration.

US officials shared the Vietnamese side’s view that this is one of the cooperation spheres with positive outcomes, which have helped address war aftermath and build up mutual trust for future cooperation.

The US Department of Defence affirmed that it will strongly assist Vietnam to deal with unexploded ordnance and Agent Orage (AO)/dioxin consequences and seek Vietnamese martyrs’ remains. It also highly valued Vietnam’s cooperation with the US in the search for missing-in-action servicemen of the US, Vinh added.

He said settling AO/dioxin consequences is also a focus of Vietnam-US cooperation in solving the war aftermath. A highlight is the AO/dioxin detoxification project worth nearly US$100 million in Da Nang city. This US-funded project began in 2014 and has come to fruition.

Both sides plan to organise a ceremony to announce the project completion in November, when President Trump attends the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Da Nang and pay an official visit to Vietnam, he noted.

Vinh said he hopes the ceremony would be attended by the two countries’ senior officials and President Trump would visit the project site, which is near Da Nang International Airport, to see the outcome of bilateral cooperation.