Vietnamese PM hails strategic partnership with Japan

The strategic partnership between Vietnam and Japan has brought practical benefits to both countries, said Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Monday. During the reception for the visiting Japanese Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera, the Vietnamese prime minister affirmed Vietnam\'s consistent policy of attaching importance to the strategic partnership with Japan for peace and prosperity in Asia, according to the website of the Vietnamese government. Dung expressed his hope that both sides would support each other at regional and international forums, especially the United Nations (UN). The prime minister called for strong cooperation between the two defense ministries through dialogues and exchanges of delegations to increase friendship and mutual understanding, asking Japan to assist Vietnam in training foreign languages, modernizing marine police force, and joining the UN-led peacekeeping operations. The Japanese guest, for his part, informed the prime minister the results of the talks with Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh, saying that the two sides agreed to cooperate in human resource training, bomb and mine clearance, modernization of marine police force, and military technical area. Onodera expected that the Vietnamese government would always advocate the two ministries\' cooperation. Onodera is on a visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh. The country is the first leg of his five-day tour to Vietnam and Thailand starting on Sunday.