VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam and the US will strengthen ties in non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, anti-terrorism, drugs and transnational crimes prevention, disaster relief, sea security, and search and rescue activities.

The agreement was reached by Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Luong Minh and US Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Shapiro while co-chairing the fifth Vietnam-US Political, Security and Defence Dialogue in Hanoi on June 20.

Both sides expressed their delight at the development of bilateral relations in various fields since the fourth dialogue in Washington DC in 2011 and discussed ways to further improve cooperative relations in the future.

They agreed to promote the exchange of high-ranking delegations and enhance ties in economics, trade, investment, science-technology and education-training, as well as in dealing with climate change and war aftermath.

They emphasised that Vietnam and the US should further cooperate with each other in regional and international forums such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+), the East Asia Summit and the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) to address emerging challenges.

They also reaffirmed that the maintenance of peace, stability and maritime safety and security is beneficial to the broader international community.

All disputes over sovereignty in the East Sea should be settled through peaceful negotiations without use of forces, they said, adding that any declaration of sovereignty over territory and territorial waters should comply to principles of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Both sides emphasised the importance of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) signed by ASEAN and China and encourage concerned parties to reach agreement on building a code of conduct (COC) in the East Sea for the sake of peace, stability and development in the region.

VietNamNet/VOV