... the Vietnamese delegation and its partners shared their viewpoints on regional security, including the East Sea issue...Hanoi (ANTARA News) - The Vietnamese delegation to the Shangri-La Dialogue 11 has had a number of bilateral meeting to promoting ties with partners, including India, China, the US, Singapore, Australia, Canada, the UK and the European Union.
At a meeting with Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh reaffirmed Vietnam's consistent viewpoint of wanting to boost strategic partnership with India, which includes defence as a pillar.
Vinh, who is head of the Vietnamese delegation to the dialogue, asked India to continue helping Vietnam in defence training and defence industry.
Minister Antony stressed increasing relations with Vietnam is a priority in India's Look East policy.
He expressed his wish that Vietnam will support India at multilateral fora as VNA reports.
The two sides agreed to work closely together to organise the deputy defence ministerial level dialogue in India later this year.
The Vietnamese Deputy Minister conveyed an invitation to visit Vietnam from Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh to the Indian Minister. Minister Antony accepted the invitation with pleasure.
At the bilateral meetings, the Vietnamese delegation and its partners shared their viewpoints on regional security, including the East Sea issue, along with measures to promote defence cooperation.
Agreeing with the countries' viewpoints, Sen. Lieut. Gen. Vinh noted that consensus in understanding and interpretation of international laws is needed in order to avoid double standard.
The Vietnamese chief delegate also affirmed that coastal countries' sovereignty right over the economic exclusive zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles must be strictly observed.
(H-AK)
Editor: Ade P Marboen
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