Building special solidarity between the Vietnamese and Lao armies

At the reception, the Lao General Secretary and President highly appreciated the visit of Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong and the high-ranking military delegation of the Vietnam People's Army; said that he regularly followed the cooperation between the two countries' armies; affirmed that the Vietnamese and Lao armies are like brothers, always sharing the ups and downs, standing shoulder to shoulder, supporting each other throughout the process of building and growing the two armies; said that in the overall special solidarity relationship between Vietnam and Laos, the solidarity between the two armies is special among special.

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong respectfully thanked the Lao General Secretary and President for taking the time to receive the delegation; expressed the gratitude of the Party, State, Army and people of Vietnam for the great, valuable, wholehearted, righteous and effective support that the Lao Party, State, Army and people have given to Vietnam in the past struggle for national independence as well as in the cause of national construction and protection today.

General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith recalled the great contributions of Vietnam in helping the people and brotherly country of Laos, including the blood and bones of military officers and soldiers who died for independence, freedom and peace. Promoting the achievements and historical lessons, comrade Thongloun Sisoulith hopes and believes that, through the visit of Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong, the contents and cooperation programs between the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army in particular and the two countries' armies in general will become increasingly practical and effective. Thereby, the special close solidarity relationship like brothers will continuously develop, deepen friendship, and foster the Vietnam-Laos relationship to be forever green and forever sustainable.

Informing about the meeting with the Lao Minister of National Defense and the results of the talks with the Chief of the General Staff of the Lao People's Army, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong affirmed that in all circumstances, Vietnam always attaches importance to preserving and constantly promoting the special, loyal and steadfast Vietnam-Laos relationship. He believes that under the leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, the Lao people will continue to overcome all difficulties and challenges, continue to gain even greater achievements in the renovation process, successfully building a peaceful, independent, democratic, unified and prosperous Laos on the path of socialism.

* On the same afternoon, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong met with General Chansamone Chanyalath, member of the Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of National Defense of Laos.

At the meeting, Senior General Chansamone Chanyalath warmly welcomed Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong and the high-ranking military delegation of the Vietnam People's Army to their official visit to Laos. He said that the visit is even more important as the two countries are accelerating the implementation of the goals and targets in the Resolution of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Resolution of the 11th National Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Chansamone Chanyalath expressed his joy at witnessing Vietnam's many successes in the cause of national construction and defense, and the people's material and spiritual lives being constantly improved.

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong respectfully thanked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense of Laos for taking the time to receive the delegation; respectfully conveyed the greetings of General Phan Van Giang, Politburo member, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of National Defense of Vietnam to General Chansamone Chanyalath and the leaders of the Lao Ministry of National Defense.

General Chansamone Chanyalath said that he had listened to the Chief of the General Staff of the Lao People's Army report on the results of the talks and highly agreed with the good results that the two sides had achieved. Thanking Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong for his good assessments and opinions for Laos and the Lao People's Army, General Chansamone Chanyalath emphasized that he always remembered the support of Vietnam and the Vietnam People's Army for the country and the Lao People's Army. In military and defense cooperation, the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense has given special priority to the Lao Ministry of National Defense in all fields. Respectfully conveying his regards to General Phan Van Giang and the leaders of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, General Chansamone Chanyalath hoped that in the coming time, the General Staffs of the two countries' People's Armys would continue to study, grasp the situation, advise senior leaders on the contents and areas of cooperation and coordinate for effective implementation.

Informing, clarifying and emphasizing the results achieved by the General Staffs of the two countries' People's Army, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong affirmed that the two sides will continue to maintain the momentum of comprehensive, substantive and effective development; at the same time, in-depth discussions on the implementation plan of key cooperation contents assigned by the two countries' senior leaders to the two Ministries of National Defense to implement. He hoped that the Lao Government and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense of Laos would continue to support Vietnamese enterprises, including military enterprises, to invest and do business in Laos.

* Previously, on the afternoon of May 10, Senior Lieutenant General Khamliang Outhakaysone, member of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, Deputy Minister of National Defense, Chief of the General Staff of the Lao People's Army chaired the official welcoming ceremony for Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong and the high-ranking military delegation of our country on an official visit to the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

After the official welcoming ceremony, speaking at the talks, Chief of the General Staff of the Lao People's Army Khamliang Outhakaysone happily welcomed Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong and members of the high-ranking Vietnamese military delegation to an official visit to Laos; affirming that the visit is of great significance, aiming to strengthen the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two armies in particular, the two Parties, two States and peoples of the two countries in general.

Expressing his joy at meeting Senior Lieutenant General Khamliang Outhakaysone, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army Nguyen Tan Cuong sincerely thanked the Lao People's Army and Senior Lieutenant General Khamliang Outhakaysone personally for the warm, thoughtful and comradely reception given to the delegation right from the moment the delegation set foot in the beautiful land of a million elephants. He believed that through this visit, the good relationship between the two armies will become increasingly deeper, worthy of being a pillar of the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, two States and people of Vietnam and Laos. Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong said that although he had visited the beautiful country of Laos many times in different positions, each visit left a deep impression of the country and people of the beautiful and hospitable land of Champa.

At the talks, the two sides discussed the world and regional situation and issues of mutual concern. The two sides agreed that the world and regional political and security environment is undergoing many complex changes, with many potential risks and instabilities, especially traditional and non-traditional security challenges... posing challenges to peace and stability in the region and the world.

Regarding the defense cooperation between the two countries in recent times, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong and Senior Lieutenant General Khamliang Outhakaysone acknowledged and commended the functional agencies of the General Staff of the two countries' People's Army for closely coordinating and effectively implementing activities within the framework of the "Vietnam-Laos, Laos-Vietnam Solidarity and Friendship Year", with many outstanding results, such as: The two sides coordinated to grasp and assess the situation, exchange information, and provide effective and timely advice to the Party and State leaders on military and defense work of the two countries; coordinated with the Royal Cambodian Army to successfully organize the first search and rescue exercise between the armies of the three countries Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia; exchanged high-level delegations, and strengthened cooperation between military regions, border provinces, and border protection forces. Patrol and control activities were maintained in a regular manner; borders, border gates, trails, and openings were strictly controlled; effectively preventing illegal entry and exit activities, successfully combating many cross-border crime projects; cooperating in training, coaching, and fostering cadres; establishing twinning clusters, border exchanges between units and localities... achieving many good results. In all cooperation activities, the General Staff of the two countries' People's Army is always the core force, the center of coordination and cooperation in implementation.

Regarding the direction of cooperation in the coming time, the two sides agreed to continue to closely coordinate, thoroughly grasp, actively and effectively implement the agreements of the high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and States, the Cooperation Protocol between the two Ministries of National Defense for the period 2020-2024 and the Cooperation Plan for 2023, focusing on a number of areas such as: Strengthening cooperation in defense operations, information exchange, human resource training, technical logistics, defense industry; focusing on cooperation between military regions, military services and border protection forces of the two countries, especially in protecting borders, border markers, and fighting and preventing cross-border crimes.

The two sides will continue to support each other at multilateral forums in the region and the world; exchange information, strengthen propaganda and education for cadres, party members, soldiers and people of all walks of life, especially the young generation of the two countries, about the meaning and importance of the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, two States, people and armies of Vietnam and Laos. The two Chiefs of the General Staff also agreed that the two sides will closely coordinate and resolutely fight against the hostile forces' distortions of the good brotherly relationship between Vietnam and Laos, Laos and Vietnam.

* During the visit, in the afternoon of the same day, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong and the high-ranking military delegation of the Vietnam People's Army laid a wreath in memory of the heroic martyrs at the Monument to the Heroic Martyrs in the capital Vientiane.

TIEN DAT (from Vientiane, Laos)

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