Senior General Min Aung Hlaing welcomes and meets Russian Defence Minister Army General Sergey K. SHOIGU
Nay Pyi Taw January 22
Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing accorded a Guard-of-Honour welcome to Army General Sergey K. SHOIGU, Minister for Defence of the Russian Federation, in front of Zeyathiri Beikman, here, this morning.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and Army General Sergey K. SHOIGU took the salute of the Guard of Honour and inspected it, followed by the bilateral introduction of senior military officers to both sides.Present on the occasion together with the Senior General were Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Commander-in-Chief (Army) Vice-Senior General Soe Win, Chief of the General Staff (Army, Navy and Air) General Mya Tun Oo, Commander-in-Chief (Navy) Admiral Tin Aung San, Commander-in-Chief (Air) General Maung Maung Kyaw, senior mili-tary officers of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief and Deputy Minister for Defence Rear-Admiral Myint Nwe. The Russian Defence Minister was accompanied by Ambassador of the Russian Fede-ration to Myanmar H.E. Dr. Nikolay A. LISTOPADOV, Deputy Defence Minister Colonel General Alexander V. FOMIN, senior Russian military officers and the Russian military attaché.The Russian Defence Minister signed the visitors’ book of Zeyathiri Beikman and exchanged greetings with the Senior General at the parlour.
At the Russia-Myanmar bilateral meeting based on common interest, the Senior General expressed deep pleasure for the goodwill visit and the bilateral discussions between the two armed forces of the two countries during the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. He said it is the first foreign visit of the Russian Defence Minister this year. It is the third visit of His Excellency, and the Senior General said he himself has also visited Russian Federation six times. Bilateral goodwill visits would be helpful for strengthening mutual friendship and trust between the two countries and the two militaries. Assistance provided by the Russian Federation as a good friend during the hard times is appreciated.
The visiting minister expressed pleasure of his goodwill visit to Myanmar with a large delegation. He also expressed belief that the discussions would be so beneficial for military affairs and military technology. He said the bilateral military cooperation will be cemented amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the visit to Myanmar, which is his first foreign visit in the new year, is for this particular purpose. Discussions will be centred on further cementing the well-establi-shed bilateral military ties. He thanked the Senior General for attending the 75th Anniversary Victory Day of Great Patriotic War of the Russian Federation. He said Myanmar Tatmadaw delegations took part in the Security Forum, International Army Games-2020 and KAVKAZ-2020 strategic military exercise in 2020. He thanked the Tatmadaw for transporting citizens of the Russian Federation back home. They were facing difficulties to go back home because of COVID-19.
The Senior General said that diplomatic relations of the two countries started on 18 February 1948, and now, the diplomatic relations will turn 73 soon. Both armed forces performed continuous enhancement of strategic defence relations and military technological cooperation. As cooperation was carried out in new form due to technological requirements, greater improvement was achieved in the military technological sector. The Senior General pledged to further strive for long term development of all sectors between the two armed forces. Exchange of goodwill visits between senior military officers of both countries will help further cement friendly relations between the two armed forces. Further strengthening of existing friendly relations between the two armed forces will promote relations and cooperation between the two countries. It was found that the Russian Armed Forces successfully held grand ceremonies and exercises in 2020 including the military parade to mark the 75th Anniversary Victory Day of Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) of the Russian Federation amidst the difficulties.
The guest minister said two armed forces of both countries could per-form much military cooperation. This year, further military talks will be held. The issues on prevention of terrorism will be discussed in the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus-ADMM Plus. The guest minister expressed his much satisfaction of cooperation in mili-tary, military technology and other sectors between the two armed forces. The guest minister pledged to give training to the contestants in advance to take part in the army games to be held in the Russian Federation this year.
Afterwards, the Senior General and the Defence Minister of the Russian Federation cordially discussed cooperation in military techno-logy between the two militaries of both countries, cooperation in training session, capacity enhancement of Tatmadaw (Army, Navy and Air) and other corps, sending of trainees from Myanmar Tatmadaw to the Russian Federation, measures of anti-terrorism, regional peace and stability measures, current situations of Myanmar, exchange of goodwill visits and promotion of friendly relations between the two armed forces, cooperation in humanitarian sector, and improvement of tourism sector between the two countries.
After the meeting, the Senior General presented an honorary medal and honorary sword to the Defence Minister of the Russian Federation for his performance in further development of friendly relations and strengthening of military cooperation between the two armed forces of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the Russian Federation. The Defence Minister of the Russian Federation decorated an honorary outstanding medal awarded by the Federal Ser-vice for Military Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) at the Senior General for his outstanding performance in cooperation in military technology between the two countries.
The Senior General and entourage cordially greeted the Defence Minister of the Russian Federation and entourage.This morning, the Defence Minister of the Russian Federation and party laid a wreath to pay tribute at the Memorial to Fallen Heroes (Nay Pyi Taw) and visited there.