(VOVworld) – A senior meeting on peacekeeping activities was held on the sideline of the 69^th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday. The meeting, co-chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and US Vice President Joe Biden, evaluated the efficiency and challenges to the UN peacekeeping force.

At the meeting, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh underscored the important role of the UN peacekeeping force in preventing war and conflict and maintaining global peace and security. He repeated Vietnam’s commitment to contribute to these activities.

Mr. Minh attended the Informal ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (IAMM), ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting with the UN Secretary General and the President of the UN General Assembly, and ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Speaking at the IAMM, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh appreciated ASEAN’s achievements in maintaining unity and consensus in important regional issues. He underlined the outcomes of the ASEAN Marine Forum and Expanded ASEAN Marine Forum in Hanoi in August and the ASEAN-China special meeting on the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) in China in September. He urged ASEAN to act to avoid activities to complicate the East Sea situation, advocate the implementation of the DOC, and conduct more dialogue toward the Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC).

At a meeting with the UN Secretary General and the UN General Assembly President, both sides exchanged cooperative measures within the comprehensive partnership framework between ASEAN and the UN. Mr. Minh spoke highly of the UN’s support to the establishment of the ASEAN community. He stressed the need to effectively carry out programs on poverty reduction, sustainable development and enhancing connection to handle global challenges. Mr. Minh said the UN and ASEAN should work closely in protecting global peace and marine safety and security basing on international law and the 1982 UN Convention of the Law of the Sea.

At a meeting with US State Secretary John Kerry, the two sides reviewed the ASEAN-US relations and discussed cooperation in marine security, climate change adaptation, and people to people exchange. Mr. Kerry reiterated the US’s interest in boosting its relations with ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific. Mr. Minh asked the US to support in narrowing the development gap, enhancing ASEAN connectivity, and ensuring regional peace, stability, security, and development.