Vientiane (VNA) –Several Lao leaders have hailed the cooperation between the armies of Laos andVietnam during their meetings on September 18 in Vientiane with a high-rankingdelegation from the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) led by Director of the VPA’sGeneral Department of Politics Sen. Lieut. Gen Luong Cuong.

The VPA delegation made courtesycalls to General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party andPresident of Laos Bounnhang Vorachith and Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen ChansamoneChanyalath during their official visit to Laos.

The Lao leaders welcomed thevisit of the VPA delegation and the outcomes of the talks between the delegationand a delegation of political officers of the Lao People’s Army.

They said the armies of the twocountries should strengthen cooperation across the fields, especially in Partyand political work in the current situation, in order to defeat all attempts toundermine and break up the special traditional friendship between the twocountries.

The Lao leaders also emphasized theneed to educate the young generations on the special ties between the twocountries so that they will continue to nurture the ties.

Party General Secretary and Presidentof Laos Bounnhang Vorachith affirmed that he will continue to support andfacilitate defence ties between the two countries.

Sen. Lieut. Gen Luong Cuong saidthe VPA’s General Department of Politics will continue to work closely andeffectively with the Lao counterpart to strengthen the political and Party ideologicalposition in the army, contributing to enhancing the defence partnership and therelations between the two armies and countries.

Earlier the same day, Sen.Lieut. Gen Luong Cuong held talks with Sen. Lieut. Gen. Vilay Lakhamphong, DeputyDefence Minister and Director of the General Department of Politics of the LaoPeople’s Army.

At the talks, the two sidesshared the view that the two General Departments of Politics have collaboratedclosely in instructing the responsible and effective implementation of theprotocol for 2015-2019 and the plans on cooperation between the two DefenceMinistries and General Departments of Politics.

They agreed that bilateral cooperationin the time ahead will focus on consolidating the direct and absoluteleadership of the two Parties over the two armies, thus further cementing themutual trust and effective cooperation between the two Parties, States, peoplesand armies, maintaining the peaceful and stable environment for development ineach country and defeating all conspiracies aimed at separating the Vietnam-Laostraditional friendship.  

The two sides decided tointensify education campaigns to raise the understanding of army officers andsoldiers about the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensivecooperation between the two countries and armies.

They vowed to work together toenhance the quality of training of high-ranking officers for the two armies,accelerate the search for and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese volunteersoldiers and experts who died in Laos during wartime, while maintaining mutualvisits and cultural and sport exchanges.

The two sides noted the need tocollaborate to design plans for communication activities on the 70th founding anniversary of the Lao People’s Army and the 75th anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army in 2019.

Also on September 18, the VPA delegationpaid floral tribute at the monument to fallen soldiers in Vientiane. They arescheduled to visit a number of units of the Lao People’s Army on September 19.-VNA