HÀ NỘI — Senior Lieutenant General Nguyễn Chí Vịnh, Vietnamese deputy minister of defence, affirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic would not disrupt defence co-operation among ASEAN member states as well as between ASEAN and its partners.
Chairing the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials' Meeting Plus (ADSOM+) on Thursday, Vịnh, who is also head of Việt Nam’s ADSOM+ delegation, said the countries would have to make more efforts to strengthen defence collaboration to respond to the pandemic.
The virtual meeting was attended by heads of ADSOM+ from other ASEAN member countries, Russia, China, the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India and ASEAN Deputy General Secretary Hoàng Anh Tuấn.
Defence attachés from ASEAN countries and their partners also participated in the event.
The conference aimed to promote practical defence co-operation between ASEAN countries and partner and make preparations for the 7th ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+) to be held via teleconference next month.
According to Senior Lieutenant General Vịnh, at the ADSOM+ in July, delegates shared experience and discussed measures to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic through defence channels.
“Defence co-operation has made significant contributions to the fight against COVID-19 in ASEAN and its partners,” he said, while speaking highly of the participation of the delegates in the context of time zone differences and welcoming the outcomes of the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials' Meeting Plus Working Group (ADSOM+WG) held on Wednesday.
Before ADSOM+, a series of important defence meetings were held including those within the framework of the 37th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits last week. The 7th ADMM+ in December will be one of the last conferences hosted by Việt Nam as ASEAN 2020 Chair this year, he said, expressing his hope for the ADSOM+ to contribute to the working agendas of ASEAN and its partners this year, while upholding ASEAN solidarity and centrality.
At the meeting, the delegates approved the ADMM+Expert Groups’ working plan for 2021-23 and discussed the draft joint statement of the 7th ADMM+. — VNS