Review on external affairs from June 13-19: Cultivating Vietnam-Laos relations; ASEAN-India spirit of dialogue & cooperation
WVR - Review on a number of news headlines on external affairs from June 13-19 by The World and Vietnam Report.
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| President Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives Minister, Chairwoman of the Lao President's Office Khemmani Pholsena. (Source: VNA) |
Leaders’ activities
On June 17, at the Presidential Palace, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosted a reception for Khemmani Pholsena, Minister and Chairwoman of the Presidential Office of Laos.
Welcoming the Lao official, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the visit celebrates the "Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year 2022" which marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations and the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation between the two countries, as well as contributing to strengthening the traditional collaboration between the two Presidential Offices.
The President affirmed that Vietnam always stands side by side with Laos and does its best together with the Lao Party, State and people to preserve, protect and nurture the great friendship and special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.
On June 15, at the Presidential Palace, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc received outgoing Australian Ambassador Robyn Mudie, highly valuing the Ambassador’s fulfillment of duties which has helped further intensify the two countries’ strategic partnership.
On behalf of the Party and State of Vietnam, the President thanked Australia’s for supporting more than 22 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to help Vietnam quickly and effectively carry out its vaccination campaign, contributing to the fight against the epidemic and for economic recovery.
On June 13, at the Presidential Palace, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia Ivan Velimir Starcevic and Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal Abdoulaye Barro as they presented their credentials.
On June 15, at the Government Headquarters, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Egyptian Ambassador Amal Abdel Kader Elmorsi Salama and Mongolian Ambassador Jigjee Sereejav.
Meeting with Egyptian Ambassador Amal Abdel Kader Elmorsi Salama, the Prime Minister congratulated Egypt on its achievements in maintaining political stability, socio-economic development and COVID-19 containment. Receiving Mongolian Ambassador Jigjee Sereejav, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the traditional relationship and mutual support between the two countries during national construction and development.
On June 18, at the invitation of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, President of the National Assembly Esperanca Laurinda Francisco Nhiuane Bias arrived in Hanoi, starting her six-day official visit to Vietnam.
This is the first visit to Vietnam by Esperanca Laurinda Francisco Nhiuane Bias in her current post since taking office in January 2020.
It is also the first by a President of Mozambique’s legislative body to promote joint work between the two parliaments.
Activities of the Foreign Affairs Minister
From June 16-17, in New Delhi, at the invitation of Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son attended and delivered speech at the Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' Meeting (SAIFMM), commemorating the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations (1992-2022).
Foreign Minister Son also delivered speech at the Ministerial Session on ASEAN-India relations in the framework of the 12th Delhi Dialogue entitled "Building Bridges in Indo-Pacific ".
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| Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son attends the Special ASEAN - India Foreign Ministers' Meeting (SAIFMM). (Photo: VNA) |
On this occasion, Minister Bui Thanh Son paid a courtesy call to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had a meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
The Foreign Minister also had meetings with his Indonesian and Bruneian counterparts, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Second Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brunei Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof.
On June 17, Foreign Minister of Vietnam Bui Thanh Son and Foreign Minister of India S. Jaishankar co-chaired a ceremony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-India diplomatic relations at the Vietnamese Embassy in New Delhi, to announce the logo of Vietnam-India 50-year-ties. Earlier, Foreign Minister Son received a delegation from the India-Việt Nam Solidarity Committee in West Bengal State, led by its President Kusum Jain.
On June 13, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, receiving US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son emphasized that Vietnam considers the US a leading important partner and stands ready to work together with the country to deepen the bilateral comprehensive partnership in an effective and practical manner, on the basis of respect for independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political institutions of each other.
Bilateral activities
From June 13-17, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, a meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee on Land Border Demarcation and Marker Planting at chair level took place.
The Vietnamese side was led by Nguyen Minh Vu, Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee for Land Border Demarcation and Marker Planting, while the Cambodian side was headed by Var Kim Hong, Senior Minister in charge of border affairs and Chairman of the Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Committee on Border Demarcation and Marker Planting.
On June 15, meeting with representatives of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Saint Petersburg Legislative Council, Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi emphasized that 2023 is an important year in the relationship between Vietnam and Russia, especially for the city of Saint Petersburg.
The two countries will jointly celebrate the 100th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s first visit to Petrograd, now Saint Petersburg.
On June 15, in Nur-Sultan, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan Pham Thai Nhu Mai presented the letter of credentials from President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to Kazakh President Jomart-Kasym Tokayev.
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| Deputy Minister Ha Kim Ngoc holding talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in Hanoi on June 13. (Photo: WVR) |
On June 13, holding talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Deputy Minister Ha Kim Ngoc called on her coordination in promoting the implementation of the outcome of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's recent working visit to the US on the occasion of the ASEAN-US Special Summit.
Multilateral activities
Just at the end of the ASEAN-India Special Meeting of Foreign Ministers (June 16-17), Ambassador Vu Ho, Acting Head of SOM ASEAN Vietnam, Director General of ASEAN Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave an interview on the outcome of the SAIFMM and Vietnam's contributions.
Vietnam delivered a message of peace, cooperation and dialogue to all countries in the region and the world through the Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (SAIFMM), stated Ambassador Vu Ho.
From June 15-16, within the framework of the Working Group on Human Resource Development (HRDWG) under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated with the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs organized the APEC Online Symposium on strengthening cooperation in human resource development and promoting new leadership skills to adapt to the digital era.
From June 13- 17, the 32nd Conference of the Member States of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) took place at the UN headquarters in New York.
Speaking at the Conference, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, reaffirmed that UNCLOS, as the “constitution of the oceans”, is the legal framework for all activities in the oceans and seas and also the only legal foundation for comprehensively and fully identifying the scope of countries’ rights to sea areas.
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| Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang spoke at the 32nd Conference of the Member States of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). (Photo: WVR) |
On June 14, at a reception for member countries of the Group of Friends of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the adoption of UNCLOS, on behalf of the Group’s 12 founding members, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang stressed his hope that amid many common maritime challenges facing the international community, the Group will continue developing and contributing more to the world’s joint efforts in response to those challenges.
On June 16, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, and his counterparts, Ambassadors of South Africa, Sweden, and New Zealand co-chaired a consultation on a UN General Assembly (UNGA) draft resolution on epidemic preparedness and response.
On June 13, speaking at the regular session of the UN General Assembly on the Myanmar issue, Minister Counselor, Deputy Head of the Vietnamese Mission to the UN Le Thi Minh Thoa called on the State Administration Council (SAC) of Myanmar to continue cooperation with ASEAN in fully implementing ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus and to conduct dialogues among all stakeholders to seek peaceful and comprehensive solutions in accordance with the will and aspirations of Myanmar people.
On June 15, Ambassador Nguyen Hai Bang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to ASEAN, chaired the 67th meeting of the Initiative for the ASEAN Integration (IAI) Task Force in Jakarta, Indonesia.
On June 16, Ambassador Nguyen Hai Bang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to ASEAN attended the 10th ASEAN-New Zealand Joint Cooperation Committee (ANZJCC) meeting held at the ASEAN Secretariat, in Jakarta, Indonesia. ASEAN and New Zealand reaffirmed their commitment to enhance cooperation under the ASEAN-New Zealand Plan of Action (2021-2025).
From June 13-14, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Thai Xuan Dung attended the High-Level Dialogue on the Indo-Pacific, in Prague. The Dialogue, chaired by Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, co-organized by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French and Swedish Foreign Ministry, and the European External Action Service (EEAS).
Attending were the European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, delegates representing countries in the Indo-Pacific region, prestigious universities and major research institutes in the world.
Other activities
In the morning of June 17, the delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diplomatic Corps visited and presented gifts at Kindergarten in Thanh Khe commune, Hai Duong province.
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| The delegation was welcomed at the kindergarten in Thanh Khe commune, Hai Duong province. (Photo: Nguyen Hong) |
On this occasion, the delegation presented the school with gifts from the International Food Festival Fund, Embassies, international organizations, the Thai Embassy in Vietnam and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a total value of 72 million VND.
(Source: WVR)
