VN and US look to the future for mutual benefit
Viet Nam News, November 13, 2003
HA NOI — During an official visit to Washington by Vietnamese defence minister General Pham Van Tra, Viet Nam and the US agreed to continue working together to resolve post-war problems such as the clearance of ordnance and toxic chemicals from Vietnamese soil.
Tra’s four-day visit to the US, at the invitation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was the first by a Vietnamese defence minister to the US since the American War ended in 1975.
During talks, the two leaders agreed that since normalisation, relations between Viet Nam and the US had turned to a new chapter, leading to peace, friendship, co-operation and development, which resulted from independence, unity, sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-interference in each country’s internal affairs, equality and mutual interest.
The delegation from the US Defense Department thanked Viet Nam for its active and effective co-operation in searching for the remains of US soldiers missing from the war, and the two sides agreed to co-operate in a humane spirit to attempt to find more missing soldiers from both countries.
The Vietnamese delegation also met US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the top-ranking US military officer, General Richard Myers, and Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley.
In talks with the Americans, Tra said Viet Nam’s diplomatic policy was based on the country’s desire to make friends with all nations for peace, independence and development.
The two delegations also agreed that it was in the interests of both countries to look to the future, rather than looking to the past.
Before this current visit, the two countries had already taken many steps towards improving bilateral relations, with the exchange of military delegations, including the visit of US Defense Secretary William Cohen to Viet Nam in March 2000. — VNS
