General Vu Chien Thang, Director of the Foreign Relations Department under the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense (Photo: vov.vn)

The summit kicks off on Friday night with the participation of defense ministers and delegates from 40 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. 

The agenda includes five plenary sessions on US leadership and the challenges of Indo-Pacific security, de-escalating the North Korea crisis, shaping new dimensions of terrorism and counter-terrorism and raising the bar for regional security co-operation. 
Minister Lịch is scheduled to deliver a speech at the third plenary session, focusing on the changing security order in Asia. General Vu Chien Thang, Director of the Foreign Relations Department under the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, told VOV:
“On the sidelines of the Dialogue, several nations including Singapore, the US, Canada, France, and the UK propose bilateral meetings with Vietnam. The Vietnamese delegation is ready for these meetings to boost bilateral relations and to deliver Vietnam’s views on regional security issues.”