Vietnam And France Sign Deal to Strengthen Defense Cooperation

Vietnamese Minister of Defense Gen. Phan Van Giang (left) and French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu inspected the guard of honor during the welcome ceremony for the latter in Hanoi on May 5. Photo: VNA

Vietnamese Minister of Defense, Gen. Phan Van Giang and French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu held talks on May 5 in Hanoi, following a welcome ceremony for the French delegation at the headquarters of the defense ministry.

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. It also affirms Vietnam's appreciation of the Strategic Partnership with France.

General Phan Van Giang appreciated the relationship between Vietnam and France. The two countries share many views and interests in maintaining peace, stability, and development in the region and the world on the basis of respecting the interests of all countries and international law.

Vietnam's Defense Minister affirmed that this is a favorable premise to promote cooperation between the two countries. Since upgrading the relationship to a Strategic Partnership (September 2013), Vietnam-France relations have grown both in breadth and depth, diversifying across many areas, including defense cooperation.

Based on the Joint Vision Statement on Vietnam-France Defense Cooperation for the period 2018-2028 and the Amended Agreement on Vietnam-France Defense Cooperation, defense cooperation between the two countries has achieved many positive results in various fields, including delegation exchange, dialogue and consultation mechanisms, training, defense industry, military medicine, sharing historical archives, overcoming war consequences, United Nations peacekeeping efforts, consulting and supporting each other at multilateral forums and mechanisms.

General Giang urged the two sides to further strengthen defense cooperation in the aforementioned areas and accelerate discussions to soon reach a consensus on the Vietnam-France defense cooperation program for 2025-28.

Regarding the direction of cooperation, General Phan Van Giang proposed that the two sides continue to make efforts to promote cooperation for peace, stability, and common development of the region and the world, commensurate with the Vietnam-France Strategic Partnership.

Vietnamese defense chief Phan Van Giang and French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu shake hands in Hanoi. Photo: VNA

Minister Lecornu underlined the great significance of his visit and highlighted the importance of bilateral cooperation, sharing historical memories, and how both sides have been overcoming war consequences.

At the talks, both sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern.

Regarding maritime issues, both sides underlined the importance of peace, security, stability, freedom of navigation, overflight and settlement of disputes through peaceful means, in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), and moving towards an effective and substantial Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).

At the end of their talks, the two ministers signed a letter of intent on strengthening defense cooperation between Vietnam and France.

As part of his visit, Lecornu will meet with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the head of the Party Central Committee’s Foreign Affairs Commission Le Hoai Trung before attending the anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory, which will take place on May 7 in Dien Bien Phu, the capital city of Dien Bien Province in northern Vietnam.

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