Prime minister Pham Minh Chinh said Vietnam would maintain its ‘four no’ policy regarding military alliances, alignment, foreign military bases and the use of its territory. (EPA Images pic)
HANOI: Vietnam wants to expand its international defence co-operation to build trust and prevent wars, its prime minister said on Thursday, and the US said it was hopeful its defence industry could play a key role.
In remarks to open Vietnam’s second international arms fair, prime minister Pham Minh Chinh said the expo was “a message of peace, co-operation and development”.
The arms fair, which will run until Sunday, is being held at Gia Lam Airport in Hanoi, with nearly 250 exhibitors from dozens of countries, including the US, China, Russia, the UK, Iran and Israel.
Chinh said Vietnam would maintain its “four no” policy of not participating in military alliances, not aligning with one country to oppose another, not allowing foreign military bases or the use of its territory against another country, and not using force or the threat of it in international relations.
On the sidelines of the expo, US ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper said US defence firms could team up with Vietnamese counterparts in multiple areas, including joint production and technology transfers.
“We seek to have our great defence companies working here with Vietnam on things potentially like joint production and technological transfers,” he told a press conference, together with senior US defence and military officials.
“Our goal is to ensure that Vietnam has what it needs to defend its interests at sea, in the air, on the ground and in cyberspace,” he said.
Vietnam is a major importer of weapons, especially from Russia, having invested for years in its defence capabilities in an unstable region where it has clashed with China over boundaries in the South China Sea.
The US briefing was conducted next to a Lockheed Martin C-130 displayed at the expo. Boeing and Textron Aviation Defense are also present.
Sources have told Reuters that Lockheed Martin is in talks with Vietnam for a possible deal on the veteran military transport.
At the briefing, Jedidiah Royal, principal deputy assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs, also said the US policy for the region would not change when a new administration takes over in Washington next year.
