US among top important partners of Vietnam: PM Chinh

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has hailed the U.S.'s policy to support a strong, independent and prosperous Vietnam and affirmed that the U.S. is one of leading partners of the Southeast Asian country.

PM Chinh made the statement at his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, D.C on Friday on the sidelines of the ASEAN – U.S. Special Summit that took place on May 12 to 13.

Chinh had earlier arrived in the U.S. on Wednesday for his weeklong trip to the country and attendance of the summit, at the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden.

The PM congratulated the U.S. on successfully responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and bringing life back to normal, as vividly illustrated by the hosting of the summit, in which the U.S. State Department as well as Secretary Blinken personally play a very important role.

The Vietnamese government leader also extended his thanks to the U.S. government and people for offering Vietnam nearly 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines through bilateral channels as well as through the COVAX Facility to support the country's COVID-19 fight.

PM Chinh emphasized that the Vietnam – U.S. relationship has achieved long and positive strides, in which the historic visit of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to the States seven years ago laid a solid foundation for comprehensive ties between the two nations.

The current comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and the U.S. has been based on the principle of respecting each other's political institutions, independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, for benefits of the two peoples and for peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world in general, Chinh told Bkinken.

The PM reaffirmed that the U.S. is one of Vietnam's partners of top importance and highly appreciated the U.S.'s policy of supporting Vietnam to become powerful, independent and prosperous.

He welcomed fruitful outcomes in the bilateral relations over the past years and asked the U.S. to continue pushing cooperation with and support to Vietnam in various fields.

Secretary Blinken recalled his good memories of Vietnam during his two visits to Vietnam in 2015 and 2016, especially his deep impressions of the people’s industriousness and hospitality as well as the dynamism of the Vietnam economy.

The U.S. considers overcoming war consequences as one of the high priorities in its relations with Vietnam will continue to work closely with the Vietnamese government in this field, Blinken said.

The U.S. diplomat congratulated Vietnam on its achievements in COVID-19 prevention and control and wished that Vietnam would continue to actively participate in international efforts to control the disease.

Regarding cooperation in response to climate change, Blinken welcomed applauded Vietnam's commitments at the UN COP26 conference, affirming that the U.S. will support Vietnam in realizing these commitments, including the ambitious goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2025.

They also discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern, with PM Chinh commenting that the ASEAN – U.S. Special Summit will contribute to strengthening comprehensive and responsible cooperation between the two sides in particular, and the Asia-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean in general.

Secretary Blinken said the Indo – Pacific Economic Framework Initiative is one of the U.S.'s efforts to promote an economic framework that benefits all countries, affirming it is an open and flexible mechanism.

He also agreed on the need to further clarify the contents of this initiative.

The host and guest agreed to emphasizing the significance of ensuring peace, freedom, security and safety of navigation and aviation in the East Vietnam Sea.

They asserted that any disputes in the waters must be settled by peaceful means based international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, for the sake of peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and in the world.

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