Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc and US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political and Military Affairs Tom Kelly co-hosted the sixth annual Vietnam-US political, security, and defence dialogue in Washington DC on October 1.

The dialogue serves as a forum for discussing the two countries’ bilateral political, security, and defence cooperation, as well as regional and international issues of common concern.

The two diplomats praised the strategic partnership officially established during State President Truong Tan Sang’s US visit last July.

They examined ways of realising the partnership’s full promise, including promoting the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, combating transnational crime, enhancing law enforcement, and preparing for natural disaster mitigation.

Other topics of discussion spanned UN peacekeeping deployments, humanitarian aid, search and rescue collaboration, the lingering aftermath of war, AO and ordnance deactivation, and searches for soldiers missing in action.

Both sides underlined the need to unite at regional and international forums such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+), the East-Asia Summit and (EAS) and the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) in the interests of peace, stability, and prosperity.

VOV