Ottawa (VNA) – The second defence policydialogue between Vietnam and Canada took place in Ottawa on September 21 underthe chair of Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. HoangXuan Chien and his Canadian counterpart Bill Matthews.

The two officials highly valued the recent defencecooperation results in such fields as high-level mutual visits, dialogue -consultation, personnel training, UN peacekeeping operations, maritimesecurity, defence industry, border management, migration, and cooperation atregional and international forums, matching the areas promoted by the twocountries’ leaders and defence ministries under the 2019 memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) on defence cooperation and the defence cooperation plan for2021-2023.

They agreed to continue promoting defence cooperation in linewith the signed documents and agreements with a focus on holding delegationexchanges; maintaining the effectiveness of existing dialogue and consultationmechanisms; further improving cooperation in training human resources,especially for law enforcement forces at sea, and border security; sharingstrategic information; enhancing cooperation in UN peacekeeping operations; andsupporting each other at regional and international security forums tocontribute to peace, stability, and development in the regions and the world.

Regarding the regional and global situations, both sideslooked into issues of shared concern.

Canada highly valued the role and stature of theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Vietnam, voiced support for thebloc’s centrality in ASEAN-led mechanisms, and affirmed the importance of guaranteeingfreedom, security, and safety of navigation and overflight in the East Sea.

Chien emphasised Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy ofindependence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, diversification andmulitlateralisation of external relations; maintenance of the “four nos”principle; and persistence in peacefully settling all East Sea-related differenceson the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Lawof the Sea (UNCLOS).

On this occasion, he invited Matthews, other leaders of theCanadian Department of National Defence, and defence businesses of the NorthAmerican country to visit Vietnam and attend the Vietnam International DefenceExpo 2024.

Concluding the dialogue, the two sides signed an MoU oncooperation in UN peacekeeping operations and the cooperation plan for 2024-2026.

On September 20, Chief of the Defence Staff of Canada Gen. WayneDonald Eyre received the Vietnamese delegation. He affirmed Canada attaches importance to Vietnam in itsforeign policy towards the region and that in his position, he will continueproviding conditions for enhancing bilateral defence ties, with priority givento personnel training and UN peacekeeping operations.

Deputy Minister Chien said in its foreign policy, Vietnam always highly values therole of Canada, adding defence cooperation has beencarried out in a practical manner and in conformity with the signed documentsand agreements.

There remains much room for bilateral defence cooperation togrow, he opined, asking leaders of the Department of National Defence and the DefenceStaff of Canada to continue supporting the cooperation, especially in theorganisation of high-level delegation exchanges, meetings, and consultation -dialogue mechanisms; improvement of the capacity of law enforcement forces atsea; personnel training; UN peacekeeping operations; defence industry; settlementof war consequences; and reinforcement of ties with ASEAN via multilateralcooperation mechanisms for the sake of regional and global peace, stability,cooperation, and development./.