KPL
Defence ministers from Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia met in Hanoi on October 14, 2026, to review trilateral military cooperation and agree on priorities for 2027, including joint border patrols, disaster relief exercises and exchanges of young military officers.
(KPL) Defence ministers from Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia met in Hanoi on October 14, 2026, to review trilateral military cooperation and agree on priorities for 2027, including joint border patrols, disaster relief exercises and exchanges of young military officers.
The meeting was attended by General Khamlieng Outhakaysone, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of the Lao PDR; General Phan Van Giang, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Vietnam; and General Tea Seiha, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Cambodia. It was held at the Foreign Relations Department of the Vietnam People’s Army.
The three ministers reviewed progress in defence cooperation, including previous trilateral meetings in Vientiane in October 2025 and Phnom Penh in February 2026, as well as a young officers’ exchange programme held in Da Nang, Vietnam, in May 2026. They reaffirmed the longstanding ties of friendship, solidarity and mutual support among the three countries and their armed forces.
The ministers agreed to maintain annual trilateral meetings on regional and international security issues, conduct joint search-and-rescue and disaster response exercises, and continue exchanges among young military officers.
They also highlighted the need to strengthen coordination along shared borders through joint patrols and timely information sharing among border units. These efforts will focus on preventing illegal border crossings, human trafficking, drug trafficking, smuggling, arms trafficking and other transnational crimes.
The three countries also agreed to cooperate in maintaining and restoring border markers, accelerating surveys and demarcation of unresolved border sections, and promoting peaceful, stable and friendly borders that support development.
They reaffirmed their commitment to supporting one another in regional and international defence forums, including the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM-Plus.
Following the meeting, the three ministers signed a memorandum on trilateral defence cooperation.
On the same day, General Khamlieng Outhakaysone and the Lao delegation paid a courtesy call on To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President of Vietnam, in Hanoi.
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