Senior Lieutenant-General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister led a delegation to attend the United Nations Defence Ministerial Meeting held in the United Kingdom on September 8^th, together with representatives from 75 countries.

The Vietnamese delegation led by senior lieutenant-general Nguyen Chi Vinh attends the event. (Photo: VNA)

Talking with a correspondent from the Vietnam News Agency in the UK, Deputy Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh said that delegates at the meeting had agreed with the UN introductory assessment of one year after the countries’ commitments in joining the UN peacekeeping force, and heard the current requirements of the UN in terms of peacekeeping.

The meeting also adopted a joint declaration pledging to enhance UN peacekeeping effectiveness, and stressing the need to strengthen international cooperation in this area. Meanwhile, the countries committed to further work together to improve the quality of peacekeeping activities by training and raising the quality of peacekeeping officers, and heightening the role of women in the force.

During the meeting, representatives expressed their strong consensus with Vietnam’s two proposals, which presented the idea that apart from peacekeeping activities, the international community should carry out operations rebuilding and supporting countries destroyed by wars and natural calamities; and that international cooperation should be increased to support each other, especially for those newly joining the peacekeeping force like Vietnam.

The UN peacekeeping force has some 90,000 regular members operating with nearly USD10 billion per year. The international military force was established to deal with political and military crisis in countries that report wars or are at risk of reporting wars, carrying out activities to maintain security, giving humanitarian support and supervising ceasefire commands in areas with conflicts.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh, on the sidelines of the meeting, the Vietnamese delegation met with defence officials from Japan, Indonesia, Cambodia and China. “The countries appreciated Vietnam’s attendance and contribution to the meeting with responsible ideas, although it had only joined the UN peacekeeping force recently,” he said./.

( Compiled by VNF )