Vietnam, Cambodia hold third Defence Policy Dialogue

Vietnam’s Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh and Secretary of State at the Cambodian Defence Ministry Neang Phat co-chaired the third Vietnam-Cambodia Defence Policy Dialogue at the deputy ministerial level in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on December 21.

The two sides held that Vietnam and Cambodia have effectively implemented the Protocol and Plan on cooperation between the Defence Ministries. The border management and protection work was carried out actively, while the search for and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers and experts who sacrificed their lives in wartime in Cambodia achieved remarkable progress.
A protocol on cooperation in regular search and rescue in land border areas was also signed.

Concerning cooperation orientations for next year, they agreed to continue increasing high-level meetings, maintaining regular information exchanges, and boosting collaboration in political and ideological education and dissemination on the traditional friendship between the two countries and their armies.

They consented to step up coordination between border management and protection forces to safeguard each country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The priority will be placed on augmenting cooperation in the defence industry and coordinating in search and rescue operations in border areas to implement the protocol signed this year.

After the dialogue, representatives from the Vietnam Coast Guard High Command and the Cambodian National Committee for Maritime Security signed an agreement to set up a hotline between the two offices.

Earlier on the day, Vinh also had a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Tea Banh and Vinh offered incense to martyrs at the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Monument, and paid a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Hun Sen.