Kingdom-VN forces ink accord
LIEUTENANT General Hun Manet, the commander of the infantry of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), and the chief of the Vietnamese defence forces have agreed to strengthen ties and cooperate further in managing and defending the border.
Infantry command said on a working visit to the Vietnamese capital Hanoi on Tuesday, Lieutenant General Manet, who is also RCAF deputy commanderin-chief, signed an agreement on increased collaborations with Vietnamese border protection forces.
“For the 2019-20 goals, both sides have agreed to strengthen the bonds of friendship and cooperate further in the management of the border, depending on national and international legal frameworks and human resources training,” infantry command said.
Both sides said collaborations in the past had yielded highly positive results. The two armies working together had contributed significantly to the maintenance of peace, stability, public order and security along the border.
As well as improving ties, such cooperation facilitated trade between the two countries and boosted their economies. It made it easier for people on both sides of the border to make a living, ensuring peace and allowing opportunities for Cambodia and Vietnam to develop their economies together, it said.
Such positive results were the fruits of the close cooperation between the RCAF infantry command and the Vietnamese border defence forces, which was based on the spirit of friendship, mutual understanding and two-way trust.
This collaboration had the support of the national defence ministries of Cambodia and Vietnam and was attributed to the participation of the people of the two nations, infantry command said.
Kin Phea, the director of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said the signing of the agreement between the two countries was part of efforts to further strengthen relations and national defence cooperation between the Kingdom and its eastern neighbour.
“Relations between Cambodia and Vietnam are historically brotherly and neighbourly. Our two countries have, in the past, shared sweet and bitter turning points.
“Cambodia and Vietnam joined hands to fight former enemies – France and the US. We were both in a difficult situation in the Cold War and relations between the two countries and their armies strengthened, becoming better and closer,” Phea said.
Former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmaker Ou Chanrath said he considered the agreement to be just the further strengthening of ties.
Vietnam, he said, had regularly assisted Cambodia in terms of human resources development and the supply of military equipment. He said such assistance had made the two countries closer.