Pope Francis sent a message of condolences to Vietnam on the passing of President Tran Dai Quang, reported the Vatican Radio on September 22.

President Tran Dai Quang inspects guards of honour during India visit on March 3, 2018

In the message sent to Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, the Pope extended his profound condolences and wished for peace and blessings to the Vietnamese people, especially the family of the late President. 

In 2016, President Quang paid a call to Pope Francis and met Prime Minister of Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. 

The government and political parties of Brazil also cabled condolences to the Vietnamese government and people. 

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry issued a press release saying that as a State leader since 2016, President Tran Dai Quang walked on a meaningful path towards the development of Vietnam - an important partner of Brazil in Southeast Asia, as well as protection of multilateralism, settlement of disputes by peaceful means and facilitation of dialogues among nations. 

In another condolence message, President of the Communist Part of Brazil Luciana Santos lauded President Quang for leading the country to adapt to challenges of the era and by no means step back to meet aspirations of the founders of contemporary Vietnam. 

Ambassadors of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand and Singapore, Commander of Air Force of Brazil, defence attachés of Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, Egypt, China, Senegal, Cameroon, Indonesia, Namibia, Uruguay, the Czech Republic, Thailand, Poland, India, the Republic of Korea, Ecuador and Suriname also conveyed sympathy to the Vietnamese Embassy in Brazil.

President Tran Dai Quang passed away at 10:05am on September 21 in Hanoi at the age of 62.  

According to the Board of Healthcare Services for Senior Officials, the President died at Military Central Hospital 108 due to serious illness.

Foreign leaders remember President Tran Dai Quang

President Tran Dai Quang (right) and Indonesian President Joko Widodo in their meeting earlier this month. 

The office of the Prime Minister of Thailand on September 22 issued a document to ask that flags be flown at half mast for three days, from September 24-26, at the offices of the administration throughout the country, in memory of President Tran Dai Quang.

The same day, Indonesian President Joko Widodo sent his condolences to the Government and people of Vietnam as well as the family of President Quang on his passing away. In a statement posted on an Instagram account, President Widodo said he was saddened at the news as he just met the deceased on September 11, and impressed by Quang’s devotion to the country and people of Vietnam.

Also on September 22, President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Moon Jae-in expressed his condolences at Quang’s passing away. The RoK leader recalled their first meeting in Da Nang last November on the APEC meeting, and then during his visit to Vietnam in March.

VNA