General Phan Van Giang gives a present to Academician Sidelnikov Nikolai Ivanovich. (Photo: mod.gov.vn)

At the meeting, General Phan Van Giang affirmed that Vietnam and the Russian Federation have a long-standing traditional friendship and are comprehensive strategic partners. “Vietnam always appreciates and remembers the great and effective help that the former Soviet Union and the Russian Federation today give Vietnam in the cause of national liberation and national construction,” he said.

Within the framework of the good political relations between the two countries, the defense cooperation between Vietnam and the Russian Federation has been effectively implemented in the spirit of "trust, practicality, efficiency and comprehensiveness". The two sides have signed 18 treaties and international agreements at the Government and Ministry of Defense levels; effectively maintained 8 cooperation mechanisms, and carried out 23 cooperation contents in various fields.

He emphasized that, in more than 30 years of finding a way to save the country and nearly 30 years of leading the Vietnamese people to fight for national liberation and build the country, President Ho Chi Minh set foot in nearly 60 countries all over the world. In which, the Soviet Union, the homeland of the October Revolution, the country of the great Lenin, was the place where he spent the longest time and where left a great position and influence on his revolutionary movement. In the former Soviet Union and Russia today, there are many places that keep the imprint of President Ho Chi Minh such as the Ho Chi Minh Monument in Moscow.

General Phan Van Giang affirmed that the Party, State and people of Vietnam always consider the long-term preservation and absolute protection of the safety of President Ho Chi Minh's corpse as a special and honorable political task.

General Phan Van Giang emphasized that the Vietnamese Prime Minister's award of the third-class Labour Medal from the State of Vietnam to VILAR shows the recognition and respect for the great help, affection and responsibility of generations of medical scientists and leaders of the VILAR during the process of preserving the corpse of President Ho Chi Minh, especially during the past 30 years of direct cooperation. “The contributions of medical scientists and leaders of VILAR have contributed to embellishing the tradition of strong attachment and friendship between Vietnam and the Russian Federation,” he said.

He wished that the VILAR would continue to help the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Management Board in training and fostering cadres, cooperating in scientific research, and transferring modern technology on preserving the Vietnamese great leader’s corpse.

Academician Sidelnikov Nikolai Ivanovich thanked the Vietnamese side for inviting them to attend a conference reviewing the 30-year cooperation in preserving the corpse of the Vietnamese leader, and the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence for supporting the VILAR during its direct cooperation with the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Management Board. He expressed his special respect and affection for President Ho Chi Minh, affirming that the VILAR would continue to closely and effectively coordinate with the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Management Board to perform the best and most responsible job of preserving the corpse of the Vietnamese leader in the long-term and absolute safety./.

Compiled by BTA