HÀ NỘI: Vietnamese Minister of Defence, Gen. Phan Văn Giang and French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu held talks on Sunday in Hà Nội, following a welcome ceremony for the French delegation at the headquarters of the defence ministry. They are visiting Việt Nam to take part in next Tuesday’s grand ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Điện Biên Phủ victory (May 7, 1954-2024), in which the Vietnamese army and people prevailed over French colonialism.
Minister Giang stressed the significance of Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s visit, as it contributes to further strengthening bilateral defence cooperation, demonstrates the spirit of “closing the past, looking forward to a bright future”, for the development cooperation between the two countries, two peoples; affirming Việt Nam’s appreciation of the Strategic Partnership with France. According to Minister Giang, the Việt Nam-France Strategic Partnership has grown both in breadth and depth, diversifying across many areas, including defence cooperation.
Based on the Joint Vision Statement on Việt Nam-France Defence Cooperation for the period 2018-28 and the Amended Agreement on Việt Nam-France Defence Cooperation, defence cooperation between the two countries has achieved many positive results in various fields, including delegation exchange, dialogue and consultation mechanisms, training, defence industry, military medicine, sharing historical archives, overcoming war consequences, United Nations peacekeeping efforts, consulting and supporting each other at multilateral forums and mechanisms, etc.
