Attending the ceremony were Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Politburo members: Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh; General Phan Van Giang, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of National Defense; General Luong Tam Quang, Secretary of the Central Public Security Party Committee, Minister of Public Security .

Also attending were Senior Lieutenant General Trinh Van Quyet, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Standing Member of the Central Military Commission, Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army; Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong, Member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Member of the Central Military Commission, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, Deputy Minister of National Defense ; Party Central Committee members: Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Standing Member of the Central Military Commission, Deputy Minister of National Defense; Senior Lieutenant General Pham Hoai Nam, Deputy Minister of National Defense; Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, Chief of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army; representatives of central ministries, branches, and sectors; leaders of agencies and units under the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security. Also attending were Mr. Tin Win Aung Moe, Minister Counselor, Deputy Ambassador of Myanmar to Vietnam.

Readiness of the Vietnam People's Army

On March 28, 2025, a strong earthquake occurred in Myanmar, causing extremely serious damage to people and property. Upholding the tradition of mutual love of the Vietnamese people, in the spirit of Vietnam being a friend, a reliable partner and an active and responsible member of the international community; responding to the call of the United Nations; implementing the direction of the Standing Secretariat and the Central Military Commission, on March 30, the Ministry of National Defense sent 80 cadres, officers and professional soldiers led by Major General Pham Van Ty, Deputy Chief of the Standing Office of the National Committee for Incident, Disaster Response and Search and Rescue, Deputy Director of the Department of Search and Rescue (General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army) to Myanmar to carry out the relief mission. The Ministry of Public Security also organized a force of 26 officers and soldiers, along with modern equipment, to carry out the mission.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and delegates and forces performing rescue missions in Myanmar.

Reporting on the results of the mission in Myanmar, Major General Pham Van Ty said: Although facing many difficulties in terms of geographical location, forcing the team to move around a lot, with effective support from the Embassy and the Vietnamese Defense Attaché, the Vietnam People's Army rescue force successfully completed the mission. In particular, the epicenter area had no phone signal, the Military Industry-Telecoms Group ensured communications and many equipment to serve the Vietnam People's Army and Public Security teams on duty, providing free telecommunications support for more than 4.5 million customers in Myanmar; providing phone SIM cards to more than 30,000 people and international rescue teams. Thanks to that, the relief, rescue and disaster relief work in Myanmar was highly effective.

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh acknowledged and praised the People's Army and Public Security Forces for quickly organizing forces and means to effectively carry out international search and rescue missions, emphasizing: After only 24 hours, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security led and commanded agencies and units to deploy all aspects of work, quickly organize forces, means and equipment; well identified the tasks, and were ready to go to the neighboring country to perform the noble mission. In the earthquake-affected area, the functional forces overcame difficulties, were not afraid of danger, took advantage of every hour and every minute, identified many places where people were trapped, carried out relief and handed over to the local authorities. The results of the rescue work demonstrated the capacity and prestige of the People's Army and Public Security Forces in the face of non-traditional security issues, and were recognized and highly appreciated by the international community, the Government and people of Myanmar. On behalf of the Party and State leaders, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent his deepest condolences to the Government and people of Myanmar; expressed his hope that the Government and people of Myanmar will soon overcome the grief, quickly stabilize their lives, and that Myanmar will soon return to the ASEAN Community of solidarity and diverse development.

Based on the results of humanitarian assistance and earthquake relief in Myanmar, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security to evaluate and learn from experience in preparation, organization of forces, means and equipment to perform tasks; at the same time, study and absorb experiences from countries participating in support in Myanmar to determine appropriate content, add to the training program, improve the quality and effectiveness of disaster prevention, control and recovery; and continuously improve the quality of command, coordination and response capacity to non-traditional security incidents.

Impressive actions of Uncle Ho's soldiers

Welcoming the delegation in an emotional mood, Myanmar Defense Attaché to Vietnam Myint Htun Naing said that Vietnam was one of the first countries to send search and rescue forces to Myanmar. The search and rescue forces of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam have made great efforts and made important contributions to the search and rescue work. This reflects the good friendship between Myanmar and Vietnam; we would like to sincerely thank the Government of Vietnam, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam; and thank the rescue teams as well as their families for their selfless service and fearless danger in Myanmar.

General Phan Van Giang awarded certificates of merit to groups and individuals with outstanding achievements in performing search and rescue missions in Myanmar.

Major Dao Van Long, Rescue Team, Engineer Corps, a member participating in humanitarian support and disaster relief in Myanmar, said: Witnessing the loss and pain of the people urged the working group to make every effort, determined to find survivors in the rubble. The officers and soldiers determined that this was an order from the heart, the nature and tradition of mutual love of the Vietnamese people. Major Dao Van Long recalled: "After maneuvering into the collapsed building area through a narrow passage that could only fit one person, the unit could not bring in specialized equipment, so we had to dig the ground with our hands, transport pieces of concrete and discovered signs of survivors through our hands. After determining the location of the victim, my teammates and I coordinated with the rescue forces of Turkey and Myanmar to bring the 26-year-old man out of the rubble."

On behalf of the Party and State leaders, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh awarded the Third Class Fatherland Protection Medal to collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements in performing search and rescue missions in Myanmar; Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh awarded certificates of merit from the Prime Minister to 8 collectives and 17 individuals; the Minister of National Defense awarded certificates of merit to 17 collectives and 89 individuals; the Minister of Public Security awarded certificates of merit to 21 individuals with outstanding achievements in performing search and rescue missions in Myanmar.

Article and photos: TUAN NAM - PHU SON

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    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/quoc-phong-an-ninh/xay-dung-quan-doi/khang-dinh-ban-linh-ky-nang-neu-cao-tinh-than-cuu-nan-quoc-te-cua-llvt-nhan-dan-viet-nam-823294