Vietnam Deputy Defense Minister Meets U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander, Discusses Defense Cooperation and War Legacies

General Nguyen Tan Cuong, Chief of the General Staff of the Viet Nam People's Army and Deputy Minister of National Defense, met with Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Samuel Paparo in Hanoi on August 5, 2026. General Nguyen reiterated that Viet Nam consistently regards the U.S. as one of its important partners. Building on the positive momentum in bilateral relations, defense cooperation between Viet Nam and the U.S. has been promoted across a wide range of areas, including war legacy remediation, dialogue and consultations, training, United Nations peacekeeping, military medicine, defense industry, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief. He highlighted that Viet Nam attaches great importance and gives priority to cooperation in addressing the consequences of war, guided by the spirit of putting the past aside and looking toward the future. He expressed appreciation to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command for supporting war legacy remediation projects in Viet Nam, including the construction and inauguration of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Training Facility for the Viet Nam National Mine Action Center (VNMAC) in March last year. General Nguyen requested that the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would continue to push for early approval of an additional US$130 million by the U.S. Congress, Administration, and Department of Defense to fund the Bien Hoa Airport dioxin remediation project. The aim is to complete the cleanup before 2031, thereby providing a safer living environment for local residents. He urged the two sides to effectively implement the agreed areas of cooperation, with a focus on war legacy remediation, defense industry, cooperation between the two countries' military services, and collaboration within ASEAN-led mechanisms, particularly the Expert Working Groups under the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM+). Viet Nam would continue to work closely with the U.S. and provide the most favorable conditions for efforts to search for U.S. personnel missing in action (MIA) from the war. He also called on the U.S. to enhance the sharing of information, documents, and artifacts related to fallen Vietnamese soldiers, while assisting Viet Nam in strengthening its capacity for DNA identification of war remains. For his part, Paparo reaffirmed that the U.S. respects Viet Nam's "Four No's" defense policy. He expected that the bilateral defense cooperation would become increasingly substantive and effective, with priority given to such areas as war legacy remediation, training, and military medicine. The guest underscored that the U.S. remains committed to cooperating closely with Viet Nam on unexploded ordnance clearance, information sharing, and enhancing DNA identification capacity for war remains, thereby contributing to the effective implementation of the Vietnamese Government's 500-day campaign to accelerate the search, recovery, and identification of the remains of fallen soldiers.