Vietnamese defense minister meets Indonesian counterpart in Jakarta
VGP - Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang had a bilateral meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 10.
Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang (R) meets his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Jakarta, Indonesia, March 10, 2025
Phan expressed his delight at the comprehensive, trustworthy, and substantive development of Viet Nam-Indonesia relations since the two countries established diplomatic ties 70 years ago.
He spoke highly of Indonesia's foreign policy and its contributions to promoting ASEAN's central role and unity.
The Vietnamese minister affirmed his support for Indonesia's initiatives within the framework of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) and the ADMM+, particularly the Concept Paper on the Implementation of ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific from a Defense Perspective.
He also voiced support for Indonesia in its role as co-chair of the ADMM-Plus Experts' Working Group on military medicine with the U.S. for the 2024-2027 cycle.
Phan expressed satisfaction with the outcomes of bilateral defense cooperation in various fields and welcomed Indonesia's decision to send naval and coast guard vessels to visit Viet Nam in 2024.
He also thanked Indonesia for backing Viet Nam's initiative to establish the ASEAN Military Intelligence Community and for sending a delegation to attend the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Viet Nam People's Army and the 35 years of the All-People Defense Festival in 2024.
The Vietnamese minister proposed the maritime law enforcement forces of both countries strengthen exchanges and cooperation, share information, and work together to cope with emerging maritime issues.
Phan also emphasized the need to continue humanitarian treatment of fishermen from both nations who violate each other's waters and urged the two navies to expedite negotiations and finalize the signing of an agreement on joint patrols and establishment of a communication channel.
Furthermore, he called on Indonesia to support Viet Nam's efforts to lift the European Commission (EC)'s "yellow card" warning against Vietnamese seafood exports.
Sjamsoeddin, for his part, hailed the development of Viet Nam-Indonesia defense cooperation, expressing thanks to Viet Nam for sending a naval vessel to participate in the Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo in Indonesia.
He suggested the defense ministries of both countries explore expanding cooperation in potential areas.
The two ministers expected to continue substantive cooperation within the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership, as defined by their senior leaders during this visit.
They vowed to focus on areas such as enhancing delegation exchanges at all levels, upholding the effectiveness of the defense policy dialogue mechanism, information sharing, and fostering collaboration between their military and maritime law enforcement forces, human resource training, and defense industry collaboration./.
