Defence Minister meets with UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations

This visit is within the framework of General Secretary and President To Lam's ongoing trip to the U.S. for the UN General Assembly's 79th session and Summit of the Future.

Phan, who is Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission, highly valued the UN's pivotal role in building the international law system, maintaining peace, preventing conflicts and addressing global challenges, affirming that as a UN member, Viet Nam always follows the UN Charter, its resolutions and action programs.

He expressed the Vietnamese Defence Ministry's thanks for the UN's support and cooperation with Viet Nam over the past 47 years.

On defence-security aspect, Viet Nam actively joins the UN's collective efforts to address non-traditional security challenges, contributing to maintaining global and regional peace and security, particularly in UN peacekeeping operations, disarmament, and the fight against cross-border crime.

As a member of international disarmament treaties, Viet Nam strictly complies with UN Security Council resolutions on preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and proactively and comprehensively engages in activities under these treaties.

Informing Lacroix about Viet Nam's achievements after a decade of participation in UN peacekeeping operations, Phan said Viet Nam has so far deployed more than 900 military and police personnel to the UN missions in South Sudan (UNMISS), the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), and the Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

Viet Nam has also successfully deployed five rotations of Level-2 field hospital at UNMISS and two rotations of the Engineering Unit at UNISFA, he said.

On September 24, Viet Nam continued its commitment by deploying its sixth Level-2 field hospital to UNMISS and the Engineering Unit Rotation 3 to UNISFA.

Besides, the Southeast Asian country has consistently maintained a high proportion of female personnel in UN peacekeeping operations, with participation rates exceeding 14 percent.

Stressing that Viet Nam consistently pursues a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance for peace, cooperation and development, being a friend and a reliable partner and a responsible member of the international community, Phan said Viet Nam wishes to enhance its participation in UN peacekeeping operations further, increase the number of officers joining the UN activities and receive continued UN support for Vietnamese military attachés and army officers at the UN.

The Vietnamese minister wished that UN Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix would continue to support Viet Nam's commitments and political determination in joining UN peacekeeping operations.

For his part, Lacroix praised Viet Nam's increasingly active and effective participation in UN peacekeeping operations, stressing that this has significantly enhanced the effectiveness of the missions to which Viet Nam has contributed forces.

He expressed his belief that the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence, in particular, and Viet Nam as a whole, would continue to make effective contributions to UN peacekeeping operations, noting that these efforts affirm Viet Nam's commitment and responsibility toward global peace and security while also fostering its cooperative and trustful relationships with the UN and other partners./.