Scene of the signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement, January 27, 1973, at the International Conference Center in Paris (France)

The resistance war against the US to save the country is a typical example of that struggle. And the Paris Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam signed on January 27, 1973 in the capital of France was the victorious result of one of the most difficult and long-lasting negotiations in the history of world diplomacy.

In his cozy private home in Thanh Cong apartment complex, Hanoi, Diplomat Pham Ngac, now nearly 90 years old, is still agile and clear-minded. Sharing in detail stories surrounding the negotiations in Paris more than half a century ago, Mr. Pham Ngac recalled: "I was the youngest person in the delegation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam."

Recalling unforgettable memories of that time, Mr. Pham Ngac said that the negotiations at the Paris Conference were arduous and complicated, lasting nearly 5 years, from May 13, 1968 to January 27, 1973, with 202 public sessions, 36 secret private meetings, 500 press conferences and 1,000 interviews and negotiations.

"The US negotiating team could communicate information back home very quickly. They could negotiate halfway through and then get in their car and call home to ask for advice. Meanwhile, we had to encrypt the messages and send them back, and if we wanted to go back home to ask for further instructions, comrade Le Duc Tho had to spend many days traveling back to Vietnam. Once, the negotiation lasted until 3 a.m., and immediately after that, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam negotiating team had to board a plane to return home to report, bringing with them the meeting minutes," Mr. Pham Ngac recounted.

"Overcoming all difficulties, the members of the negotiation team always maintained their fighting spirit to complete the assigned tasks," Mr. Pham Ngac said emotionally.

In Mr. Pham Ngac's memory, finally, at exactly 12:30 (Paris time) on January 22, 1973, at the Clebe International Conference Center, the Agreement to End the War and Restore Peace in Vietnam was initialed by Special Advisor Le Duc Tho and Advisor Henry Kissinger. On January 27, 1973, the Agreement to End the War and Restore Peace in Vietnam was officially signed.

This is an international legal document affirming the great victory of the Vietnamese people's resistance war against the US to save the country, with important provisions, which are: The United States and other countries pledge to respect the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Vietnam; the US army and allied countries withdraw from Vietnam. The people of South Vietnam will decide their own political future through truly free and democratic general elections; the unification of Vietnam will be carried out step by step by peaceful means...

Recalling the happy feeling when the Paris Agreement was signed, Mr. Pham Ngac recalled the moment on January 27, 1973, when the Vietnamese delegation stepped out of the door. The sky was filled with red flags with yellow stars and the flag of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam. International friends gathered in large numbers to congratulate the two Vietnamese delegations, sharing this joy with us, considering this a common victory of justice.

"To achieve national interests was the most arduous and longest diplomatic struggle in the history of Vietnam's revolutionary diplomacy. It was the blood and bones of the Vietnamese people that soaked the entire North and South for the aspiration for independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland. The signing of the Paris Agreement created a favorable situation for the struggle to liberate the South and unify the country. The war would end. The country would enter an era of unity, peace and prosperity," Mr. Pham Ngac emotionally recalled.

Assessing the stature and historical significance of the Paris Agreement for the Vietnamese revolutionary process, Professor, Doctor Nguyen Xuan Thang, Politburo member, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council also affirmed that, from the strategic fulcrum of the Paris Agreement, our army and people carried out the General Offensive and Uprising in the Spring of 1975, completely liberating the South and unifying the country. The Paris Agreement created conditions and an environment for Vietnam to establish diplomatic relations with other countries, and to gain the support of international friends for the struggle for peace, justice and national unification of the Vietnamese people.

More than half a century has passed, but the Paris Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam remains intact with its profound and valuable lessons. In the face of the complex and unpredictable developments of the current international context, the Paris Agreement shows the lesson of close coordination between diplomatic activities and promoting economic, cultural and social development, associated with ensuring national defense and security; closely combining and smoothly coordinating the Party's foreign affairs, State diplomacy and people's diplomacy; creating a combined strength to protect the Fatherland early, from afar, when the country is not yet in danger, maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for rapid and sustainable national development.

The Paris Agreement is also a lesson in thoroughly grasping President Ho Chi Minh's thought of "Remaining constant, responding to all changes". Inheriting and promoting that important lesson, in the cause of innovation, we have proposed the policy of considering promoting internal strength as the decisive factor, external strength as the important factor; properly and harmoniously handling independence, autonomy and solidarity, international cooperation, between national interests and international responsibilities; firmly pursuing the goal of national independence and socialism, skillfully combining political diplomacy, economic diplomacy, cultural diplomacy; State diplomacy, people's diplomacy; ensuring multilateralism and bilateralism,... being alert, proactively and promptly responding to the complex changes of the world situation.

In particular, Professor, Doctor Nguyen Xuan Thang emphasized the lesson of maintaining and strengthening the Party's leadership throughout the entire process of struggle on the diplomatic front. The more we are in the process of comprehensive and extensive international integration, the more we need to strengthen and maintain the Party's leadership over foreign affairs and diplomatic activities to successfully and consistently implement the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, diversifying and multilateralizing foreign relations... Vietnam is a friend, a trustworthy partner and an active and responsible member of the international community.

According to VNA