During the state visit to Canada by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, Vietnamese Minister of National Defence General Phan Van Giang held talks with Canadian Minister of National Defence David McGuinty on the morning of September 25 (local time) at the Canadian Department of National Defence headquarters in Ottawa.

During the talks, Minister McGuinty emphasized that Canada highly values Vietnam’s regional role and standing, as well as the positive growth of bilateral relations, noting that defence cooperation serves as one of the key pillars yielding significant positive results.

General Phan Van Giang affirmed that Vietnam consistently attaches great importance to its relationship with Canada and praised the recent outcomes of bilateral defence cooperation, implemented effectively based on consensus between the leaders of both nations, their respective defence ministries, and signed agreements.

Both sides agreed that the official upgrade of bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership during this high-level visit marks a vital milestone, offering favorable conditions to strengthen cooperation across multiple fields, including defence.

On that basis, the Vietnamese Defence Minister proposed that both sides continue to deepen practical and effective defence cooperation, focusing on delegation exchanges, particularly at high levels, maintaining dialogue and consultation mechanisms, training, United Nations peacekeeping, inter-service cooperation, search and rescue, cybersecurity, border management, defence industry, and post-war recovery.

The two sides also consented to enhance consultations and mutual support at multilateral defence and security forums, especially the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM+), where Canada currently holds observer status.

Also during the meeting, the two defence ministers exchanged views on the global and regional situation and matters of shared concern.

General Phan Van Giang affirmed Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation, and development, along with the multilateralization and diversification of relations.

He stressed that Vietnam desires to be a reliable friend and partner to all nations and maintains its "four no's" defence policy.

Regarding the East Sea issue, Giang affirmed Vietnam's persistent stance on resolving disputes and disagreements through peaceful means, based on respect for international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Vietnam supports the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East  Sea (DOC) and looks forward to the early conclusion of a substantive, effective, and efficient Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

On this occasion, General Phan Van Giang thanked the Canadian Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces for providing domestic and international scholarships under the Military Training Cooperation Program (MTCP), which have helped enhance the language proficiency and international integration capacity of Vietnam People's Army officers.

He expressed his desire for Canada to continue offering English and French language training scholarships, alongside specialized military courses, for Vietnamese military personnel. He stated that the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence is prepared to welcome Canadian officers to study Vietnamese and attend the International Defence Officers Course at Vietnamese military academies and schools.

Giang also welcomed the leaders of Canada's Ministry of National Defence, Canadian Armed Forces, and Canadian defence enterprises to attend, exhibit products, and seek cooperation opportunities at the third Vietnam International Defence Expo, scheduled for this December in Hanoi.

Minister David McGuinty affirmed that Canada will make efforts to augment deeper and more effective cooperation between the two defence ministries, noting that Canada will continue supporting Vietnam in participating more actively and effectively in United Nations peacekeeping operations.