General Phan Van Giang presided over the welcoming ceremony for the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani Defense Minister is visiting Vietnam and attending the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day on September 2.

General Phan Van Giang thanked Senior Lieutenant General Zakir Hasanov for attending the ceremony. Vietnam attaches importance to consolidating and strengthening the traditional friendship with Azerbaijan, which has been nurtured by President Ho Chi Minh and late President Heydar Aliev as well as many generations of leaders and people of the two countries.

General Phan Van Giang welcomes Senior Lieutenant General Zakir Hasanov. Photo: Minh Nhat

Notably, during General Secretary To Lam 's visit to Azerbaijan in May, the two countries established a Strategic Partnership, contributing to creating a foundation for increasingly deeper and broader defense cooperation.

The construction of the Monument of Gratitude to Soviet Military Experts (including Azerbaijani experts) by the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense at the Vietnam Military History Museum demonstrates the sentiments of the Party, State, Army and people of Vietnam for the valuable assistance of Azerbaijan in Vietnam's resistance wars, contributing to fostering the traditional friendship between the two countries and the two armies.

The Minister of National Defense stated that Vietnam consistently implements a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations, and perseveres with the "four no's" defense policy.

General Phan Van Giang and Senior Lieutenant General Zakir Hasanov review the Guard of Honor of the Vietnam People's Army. Photo: Minh Nhat

Vietnam's consistent stance is to persistently strive to resolve all disputes and disagreements by peaceful means on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); international and regional commitments such as the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC); and support the early signing of a Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC) in a practical, effective manner, in accordance with international law.

Defense cooperation has recently been promoted by both sides, in line with state-level relations, notably in areas such as delegation exchanges, defense industry, humanitarian mine clearance, support and participation in international multilateral activities organized by each side.

During General Secretary To Lam's visit, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation, contributing significantly to promoting increasingly practical and effective bilateral defense cooperation.

The two Ministers visited the photo exhibition space about the cooperative relationship between the two countries. Photo: Minh Nhat

Regarding the direction of defense cooperation, General Phan Van Giang suggested that the two sides study and coordinate to increase delegation exchanges, promote training cooperation; create favorable conditions for defense enterprises of the two countries to contact and cooperate in the fields of defense industry, military trade, logistics - technology, support international multilateral activities organized by each side, and at the same time study and expand areas of cooperation in which both sides have needs and potential.

The Minister suggested considering opening defense attaché offices in each country to promote defense cooperation between the two countries. Vietnam is ready to welcome Azerbaijani military students to study Vietnamese at the Academy of Military Science and attend an international defense official course at the Vietnam National Defense Academy.

The two Ministers held talks. Photo: Minh Nhat

At the end of the talks, the two Ministers signed a Letter of Intent between the two countries' Defense Ministries on cooperation in military training. Photo: Minh Nhat

For his part, Senior Lieutenant General Zakir Hasanov thanked the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense for inviting him to attend the celebration and pay an official visit to Vietnam. He expressed his joy at witnessing the good relations between the two countries, especially after the visit of General Secretary To Lam.

He emphasized that the potential for cooperation between the two countries is still very large, hoping that both sides will actively promote defense cooperation, thereby making substantive and effective contributions to the relationship between the two countries.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/dai-tuong-phan-van-giang-chu-tri-le-don-bo-truong-quoc-phong-azerbaijan-2439267.html