(VOVworld) - Vietnam and South Africa held their second Defense Policy Dialogue in Pretoria on March 29. Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh and South African Secretary for Defence Samson Makhudu Gulube co-chaired the event.

Vietnam, South Africa hold second defense policy dialogue

Gulube highlighted the growing relations between South Africa and Vietnam in different fields, including national defense. Vinh briefed the hosts about security in Asia-Pacific, affirming that peace, cooperation and development are main trends in the region. He also pointed out several regional challenges, including the gap between the rich and the poor, territorial disputes, and other non-traditional security challenges, saying that the region has faced a risk of instability and witnessed an arm race among the world’s powers. Vinh affirmed Vietnam’s stance on the East Sea issue, saying that Vietnam strongly supports the settlement of disputes in the East Sea through peaceful measures and in line with international law. Vietnam also advocates non-nuclearization on the Korean peninsula. Vinh urged the two countries to strengthen an effective cooperation mechanism. South Africa is an important partner of Vietnam in the UN’s peace-keeping operations, Vinh said, adding that Vietnam highly evaluated cooperation in defence industry, logistics, military medical, and training.