(VOVworld) - Vietnam has reiterated its stance on protecting peace, security, and the stability of navigation and aviation in the East Sea at separate meetings between ASEAN foreign ministers and their counterparts in Laos on July 25.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at an ASEAN+1 meeting

At ASEAN meetings with China, the Republic of Korea, Canada, Japan, India, Australia, the US, the EU, Russia, and New Zealand, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh called for their support for the ASEAN Community and its central role in maintaining regional peace, security, and development. He proposed measures to boost comprehensive cooperation between ASEAN and its partners in economics, trade, investment, IT, connectivity, narrowing the development gap, the fight against terrorism, cross-border crimes, and climate change.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh expressed Vietnam’s views on the Permanent Court of Arbitration which was formed in accordance with Appendix VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). He underscored the need to exercise restraint, not take actions that complicate the situation, not use or threaten to use force, and observe principles of international law and UNCLOS. Vietnam called on concerned parties to accelerate bilateral and multilateral consultations and negotiations and abide by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea while working towards the early formation of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.