The possibility that the US may remove the embargo on the sales of weapons to Vietnam is an expected step in the normalisation process between the two countries, one official has said.

The Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh made the statement outside a meeting at the UN’s 69th General Assembly session on the afternoon of September 24.

Minh met with several scholars at the Asia Society, a US-based non-profit that focuses on education about Asia. Minh delivered a speech as well as had discussions about other issues related to Vietnamese international relations.

The US arms embargo against Vietnam has been in place since 1976, However, Minh noted, “Nearly 20 years ago, we normalized relations with the United States and in 2013 we set up a comprehensive partnership with the United States. So the relation is normal and the ban on the lethal weapons to Vietnam is abnormal. So we lift the ban, meaning that the relation is normal, even though we have normalised the relation 20 years ago."

In response to a question by Tom Nagorski, vice chairman of the Asia Society, as to whether removal of the embargo would make China worried, the Vietnamese governmental official said, “If we do not buy weapons from the US we would still buy them from other countries.”

The Vietnamese deputy prime minister addressed the East Sea issue by reaffirming that the country is determined to protect sovereignty and independence. He also underlined Vietnam's intention to solve all such matters peacefully and in accordance with the international law.

Deputy PM Minh said he believed that Asia and Southeast Asia play an important role in the preservation of stability and peace of the world. So, he called on concerned parties in the Asia-Pacific, including the US, to strictly comply with their commitment in maintaining peace and stability.

John McAuliff, managing director of the Peace & Development Foundation, said that he hoped Vietnam, with its experience and success in setting up bilateral relations with countries around the world, would support the US and Cuba in improving their relations in order to deal with pending issues over the past decades.

Dan Tri