US, Vietnam Adopt Joint Vision Statement

Members of Congress and Pentagon leaders commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War during a ceremony on Capitol Hill, just one day after President Barack Obama and Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong met at the White House and adopted a national-level joint vision statement. “The United States and Vietnam recognize the positive and substantive developments in many areas of cooperation over the past 20 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, particularly the growth in economic and trade cooperation, cooperation in addressing war legacy issues, as well as in science and technology, education, healthcare, environment, response to climate change, defense, security, human rights, and increasing regional and international cooperation on issues of mutual concern,” according to the joint vision statement. The statement affirms the two countries’? commitment to deepening relations and cooperation “at both the bilateral and multilateral levels,” including high-level exchanges. The statement highlights increased cooperation in areas such as “defense trade and information sharing, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and defense technology exchange.” Defense Secretary Ash Carter and his Vietnamese counterpart also signed a joint vision statement during Carter’s trip to Vietnam last month.