The ASEAN countries need to have a unanimous voice on the East Sea security and navigation safety issue, Vietnamese Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich has said at a meeting with his Thai counterpart Prawit Wongsuwan in Moscow, Russia.

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They should deal with the issue in compliance with international law, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, while working to finalise a code of conduct in the waters, Lich stressed.
The officers met on the sidelines of the meeting on April 26 between Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and the heads of the 10 ASEAN countries’ military delegations to the fifth Moscow Conference on International Security. 
On bilateral ties, Minister Lich highlighted the development of the two countries’ strategic partnership. 
He asked both sides to increase exchanges, maintain joint patrols in the bordering water, and handle fishermen illegally working in the other country’s waters in a humanitarian manner. 
Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, agreed that cooperation activities should be continued to benefit both countries. 

Minister Lich also had another bilateral meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen, where both expressed their hope for more affiliation between their nations.

VNA