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WASHINGTON —Vietnam's minister of national defense, Phan Van Giang, is set to visit Washington next month for a high-level meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, U.S. and Vietnamese officials tell VOA.
The minister is expected to visit Washington from September 7-9 to strengthen defense cooperation between the two countries, according to a Vietnamese defense ministry official and a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the trip has not been officially announced.
During the talks, the sides are expected to discuss a range of defense-related topics, including training initiatives and the lingering legacies of the Vietnam War. Giang is also expected to sign an agreement to purchase military equipment from the U.S., though Vietnamese officials said the details of the deal are still being work out.
The Vietnamese Embassy in Washington has yet to comment on the visit.
This meeting marks the first encounter between the defense chiefs of Vietnam and the U.S. since the two countries upgraded their bilateral relations to a Strategic Comprehensive Partnership a year ago, coinciding with U.S. President Joe Biden's historic visit to Vietnam. It also signals a strengthening of military ties and could pave the way for further cooperation between the two nations in the future.
The expected visit follows the 13th Political, Security, and Defense Dialogue held in Hanoi on August 26, the first such dialogue since the relationship upgrade.
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Bonnie Jenkins, who led the U.S. delegation at the dialogue, emphasized the U.S. commitment to enhancing defense and security cooperation with Vietnam. This cooperation includes programs on military training, medicine, peacekeeping, counter-terrorism, and cybersecurity.
The last face-to-face meeting between Giang and Austin took place in November 2023, during an ASEAN defense ministers' meeting in Jakarta. During that encounter, the two discussed measures to boost bilateral defense cooperation, with a particular focus on efforts to address war legacies and provide humanitarian assistance.
Topics covered included demining and the removal of unexploded ordnances, dioxin cleanup, and accounting for Missing in Action (MIA) soldiers.
Vietnam's defense minister also extended an invitation to U.S. defense companies to participate in Vietnam's second international defense exhibition, scheduled for late 2024.
This article originated in VOA's Vietnamese Service; Carla Babb is VOA's Pentagon correspondent.