Security holds sway over Vietnam-US cooperation: Pompeo
Pompeo said the two countries were opponents on the battlefield in the past. But today, security relationship is all about cooperation.
Security relationship is all about cooperation between the US and Vietnam, American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said.
| US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a video. Photo: ACHanoi |
Under President Trump, the USS Carl Vinson visited Danang in March last year. It’s the first US aircraft carrier to visit Vietnam since the end of the war and following the lifting of the US arms embargo just three years ago, Pompeo said in a video for the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the bilateral ties.
“Our two militaries are looking at ways to increase our security cooperation even further,” Pompeo added.
The cooperation is to renew the US commitment to a strong and independent Vietnam and a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, Pompeo emphasized.
In the coming years, the two countries will build cooperation in areas of defense, cybersecurity, energy, and education, he added.
In addition, the two countries have also expanded people-to-people ties, including in the field of education with nearly 30,000 young Vietnamese citizens are currently studying at universities in the US.
In 2020, Vietnam and the US mark a quarter century since they established diplomatic relations.
Pompeo said the two countries began their work to overcome the devastation of war in the 1980’s, when they worked together to repatriate remains of American soldiers in Vietnam. This led to better ties and the formal re-establishment of our relationship in 1995.
Since then, the two sides have built a friendship on common interests, mutual respect, and bold resolve to overcome the past and look to the future.
As part of this, the United States has been proud to contribute to Vietnam’s extraordinary economic renaissance.
American companies are pouring billions of dollars in investment into the country.
“In the past two decades, our bilateral trade has grown an incredible 7,000 percent,” he noted.
Vietnam and the US normalized bilateral relations in 1995, one year after former US President Bill Clinton lifted the trade embargo on Vietnam.
