Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung arrived in Hanoi on June 1, successfully concluding his trip to attend the 12th Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore.
During his stay from May 31 to June 1, PM Dung attended and delivered a keynote speech at the dialogue. He also paid a courtesy call to the host country’s President Tony Tan Keng Yam and met with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
His keynote address on the evening of May 31 highlighted strategic trust among Asia-Pacific nations and the role it plays in peace, stability and prosperity throughout the region. The address also reconfirmed Vietnam’s defence policy for peace and self-defence.
He later answered questions from delegates at the dialogue, re-affirming that as a coastal nation, Vietnam is determined to protect its sovereignty and legitimate rights in the East Sea in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS).
The PM said Vietnam again calls upon ASEAN and China to seriously, honestly and sincerely implement the Declaration on the Conducts of Parties on the East Sea (DOC) and work towards developing an official Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
“We must all join hands to build strategic trust for peace, stability, co-operation, development and prosperity for all nations in the region,” he stressed.
In response to a question about maritime security and safety in the East Sea, the PM said that peace, stability, cooperation, development, prosperity as well as maritime security, safety and freedom of navigation are common interests, desires and goals in the region and the world.
Answering a question on the trust between the US and China, PM Dung said that the two countries are major global powers that play the biggest roles and are responsible for their own future relations as well as for promoting stability and co-operation in the region and the world.
Mr. Dung said he is confident that the two countries are clearly aware of their roles, responsibilities and interests as world powers, and will strive to devise practical and appropriate strategies and actions that will contribute to peace, stability, and common prosperity in the region.
(Source: VNA)
