Vietnam, Myanmar elevate defence ties during Min Aung Hlaing's Hanoi visit

Vietnam and Myanmar have agreed to elevate defence and security cooperation to a pillar of their bilateral relationship, following talks in Hanoi on Saturday between Vietnamese leader To Lam and Myanmar's President Min Aung Hlaing.

The agreement, announced in a Vietnamese government statement, covers expanded collaboration in military training, exchanges between young officers, and joint efforts in search-and-rescue and disaster response. The two sides also pledged to step up information sharing and coordination against transnational crimes.

During the discussions, Lam expressed Vietnam's readiness to share its experience in national development, economic security, and sustainable growth. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to preventing any individual or organisation from using one country's territory to carry out activities against the other.

The visit marked Min Aung Hlaing's first official trip to Vietnam as president. The two sides agreed to strengthen political trust through more frequent high-level exchanges and to make better use of existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms.

Beyond security matters, the leaders agreed to expand economic, trade, and investment ties, identifying opportunities in high-tech agriculture, food processing, telecommunications, information technology, digital transformation, energy, and transport infrastructure.

They also pledged closer coordination within ASEAN and Mekong subregional frameworks, reaffirming support for peace, stability, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea.

Ahead of the talks, Min Aung Hlaing on Friday visited a VinFast electric vehicle factory and telecoms group Viettel in northern Vietnam, underscoring Myanmar's interest in deepening cooperation in technology, telecommunications, and industrial development.