Cambodia and Laos have committed to further strengthening and promoting cooperation between their militaries by exchanging human resource trainees.
Lieutenant General Hun Manet, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and Commander of the Royal Cambodian Army, met Khamliang Outhakaysone – Deputy Minister of National Defence and Chief of the General Staff of the Lao People’s Army – on August 30, while on a three-day visit to the Lao capital Vientiane to mark the 66th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Manet’s maiden visit to Laos is a follow-up on commitments the Kingdom has made to strengthening defence cooperation, which both governments agreed to move forward with during their bilateral meetings at the 4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit (APWS) held in Japan in April.
In an August 30 press release, the RCAF said Khamliang regarded the visit as an opportunity to connect and establish a better relationship between the commanding officers of both armies to contribute to the promotion of bonds of friendships and cooperation between them as good neighbours with a long and productive history together.
Manet recalled the traditional bonds of friendships between Cambodia and Laos and their close cooperation so far – from the colonial period to independence and the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1956, or just recently in 2019 when bilateral relations were promoted to the level of “comprehensive and long-lasting strategic partnership”.
“We have also demonstrated commitments to continuing to further enhancing this relationship. To provide further direction, we have demonstrated commitments to strengthening and fostering closer army cooperation, especially the exchange of human resource training,” the press release said.
It added that Khamliang was pleased and thanked Cambodia for helping each other as good neighbours, especially in difficult circumstances. Both sides regarded the cooperation as fruitful though it had faltered somewhat due to Covid-19 impacts because they had to maintain peace, security, stability and order on their borders, especially curbing and combating transnational crimes of all kinds.
“This factor makes it possible for the peoples of both nations to benefit from economic exchanges and make a living with one another that raises the living standards of the peoples of the two countries,” the press release continued.
Both sides also discussed challenging issues around the globe and in some regions particularly, while noting the importance of building on each other’s trust and goodwill to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation and contribute to finding solutions to problems as they occur in order to maintain peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
