Defence Minister, General Ngo Xuan Lich (L) meets Secretary General of the Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence Vice Admiral Agus Setiadji

The two sides shared information of defence policy of eachcountry, while discussing the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region, thecooperation within the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM Plus,and preparations for Vietnam’s ASEAN chairmanship in 2020.

They showed their delight at bilateral defence partnershipover the years, especially in personnel training, information sharing andcooperation between armed forces.

Both sides agreed to continue exchanging delegations, improvingthe efficiency of existing dialogue mechanisms, strengthening cooperationactivities among armed forces, and seeking possibility to collaborate indefence industry.

The two countries will continue coordinating with andsupporting each other at multilateral forums.

Regarding the illegal, unreported and unregulated fishingissue, the Vietnamese side noted that many Vietnamese fishermen’s awareness ofthe law remains limited, leading to regrettable violations of Indonesian law.

Vinh underscored the need to deal with the matter on thehumanitarian spirit in line with international law as well as the laws ofIndonesia and Vietnam.

Vietnam has also directed the coast guard force to givesimilar settlement to violations of foreign fishermen without arresting anddamaging their fishing tools.

The official proposed that the two sides cope with the issuein the same way, avoiding adversely affecting the friendship between the twocountries.

The Vietnamese side also proposed a number of measures toenhance bilateral ties, including building coordination mechanisms at differentlevels between the two defence ministries, naval forces and coast guard forces.

The two countries should set up and effectively operate thehotline, while strengthening cooperation in diverse methods, such as jointpatrol, legal experience exchange, joint exercise on anti-smuggling and illegalfishing, along with researching of sea environment and legal communications forfishermen, the Vietnamese side proposed.

Also on June 25, Defence Minister, General Ngo Xuan Lichhosted a reception for Vice Admiral Agus Setiadji. General Lich lauded thedefence cooperation between the two ministries, especially after the signing ofa Joint Vision on Defence Cooperation in the 2017-2022 period in 2017.

He spoke highly of the establishment of theVietnam-Indonesia Defence Dialogue, which marks a new progress in thepartnership between the two ministries.

This is a highly practical mechanism which createsfavourable conditions for leaders of both countries to share their viewpointson the global and regional situation of mutual concern, while reviewing thebilateral defence cooperation outcomes and seeking new measures to deepen theties, he said.

General Lich suggested that in the future, the two sidescontinue maintaining such dialogues to continue effectively implementagreements between the two countries.

For his part, Vice Admiral Agus Setiadji expressed hisdelight at the friendship and all-round cooperation between the two countriesover the past year, including defence partnership.

The official highlighted the role of the newly-establisheddefence dialogue in boosting bilateral defence ties.

He informed the host of the results of the first dialogue,showing his belief that the defence collaboration between the two countrieswill continue to thrive in the coming time.

The Indonesian official agreed with proposals of Vietnam regardingfishermen issues.-VNA