VietNamNet reviews outstanding events in the fields of diplomacy and defense of Vietnam in 2013, from the message of strategic trust at the 12th Shangri-la Dialogue to the completion of the first Kilo submarine.

Bustling visits

Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in Hanoi in March 2013. Photo: Le Anh Dung

2013 was a busy year with the exchange of high-level visits between Vietnam and other countries.

Among them were the official visit to Vietnam in March of the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the official visit to Russia of the Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh in August.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chose Vietnam as the first destination after taking office. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera also visited Hanoi in 2013, the 40th year of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relations. Military relations were identified as one of the important contents of the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Japan.

Defense Ministers of Malaysia and New Zealand also paid official visits to Vietnam to boost defense cooperation.

The 12th Shangri-La and "strategic trust"

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was the first cabinet leader of Vietnam attending the Shangri-La Dialogue in June in Singapore. He presented a speech that captured special attention of the international media.

The message conveyed through Dung’s speech is building strategic trust for peace, cooperation and prosperity in the Asia - Pacific region.

As a guest and a keynote speaker of the Shangri-La Dialogue, PM Dung analyzed the overall picture of the region and pointed out the issues of common interest.

He emphasized that Vietnam had a profound belief in the bright future of development cooperation in the region, but with the trend of increasing competition and involvement - especially from the big countries – besides positive aspects, there are also potential risks that the countries in the region must proactively prevent together.

To build strategic trust, the countries need to comply with international law, to promote the national responsibility, especially big countries, to improve the efficiency of the enforcement of multilateral security cooperation mechanisms.

The Prime Minister also presented the foreign and defense policy of Vietnam, under which Vietnam pursues the foreign policy of independence, diversification, multilateralism, to be a friend and a reliable partner of all countries, to be proactive in international integration and a responsible member of the international community.

He reaffirmed that Vietnam's defense policy was that of peace and self-defense. "Vietnam will not be a military ally to any country and will not allow any country to set up military bases on Vietnamese territory. Vietnam will not ally itself with any country to counter another," Dung said at the 12th Shangri-La Dialogue.

The first Kilo submarine for Vietnam

Hanoi - the first submarine in the total of six submarines that Russia is building for Vietnam - has been transferred to the Vietnam Navy. The submarine is on the way to the Cam Ranh Port in the central province of Khanh Hoa. It is scheduled to arrive in the port in January 2014.

Russia will also help train the submarine crew for Vietnam and provide related equipment, supplies and techniques for Vietnam. The crew training course began in late July in St. Petersburg.

The second Kilo submarine named HQ-183 Ho Chi Minh City is undergoing trial operation in the Baltic. Russia will hand over the last submarine to Vietnam in 2016.

Vietnam stated that the purchase of submarines is to protect its waters, including the continental shelf, the exclusive economic zone and territorial waters.

Join the UN peacekeeping forces

After eight years of preparation, at the 12th Shangri-La Dialogue, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung informed the world of Vietnam’s participation in the peacekeeping operation in the fields of military engineering, military medicine, military observer and advice.

In late September, at the UN General Assembly session in New York, Prime Minister Dung officially announced to the world on this important decision.

It is expected that Vietnam will join the UN peacekeeping forces in South Sudan and Mali in the shortest time.

“Having gone through devastating wars of aggression and extreme poverty, our aspirations for peace and prosperity burn ever more brightly. We commit to do more. To participate in every peace-building, poverty reduction, environmental protection and other efforts. We stand ready to join the UN's peace keeping operations. We are willing to share our resources and experience as a tribute to the international friends who have supported us in our struggle for independence, unification, and poverty reduction. Viet Nam is and will always be a reliable partner and responsible member of the international community,” spoke PM Dung at the UN General Assembly session in New York in September.

According to Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Minister of Defense, Vietnam’s participation in peacekeeping activities is not only to resolve emerging security issues in the region and the world in favor of Vietnam, but also a new approach, considering the security challenges of the region and the world as security challenges of Vietnam.

L.Thu - N.Nham - H.Duyen