Vietnamese, Lao Border Forces Strengthen Solidarity

Dien Bien: The border guard forces of Vietnam and Laos will bolster collaboration to build a shared borderline of peace, friendship, stability, and development as they signed documents in Vietnam's northwestern province of Dien Bien on May 26 to set up twinning relations. According to Lao News Agency, the ceremony brought together representatives from three Vietnamese border guard stations - Tay Trang International Border Gate, Thanh Luong and Pa Thom of the Dien Bien border guard, and Border Guard Company 119 from the Military Command of Laos' Phongsaly province. The documents came after years of effective collaboration between the two countries' border guard forces, who have worked in accordance with the bilateral border and border gate agreement signed by the Vietnamese and Lao Governments. They have successfully addressed emerging issues along the frontier based on respect for each nation's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, helping strengthen solidarity and friendship as well as prom ote social, economic, and cultural development in border areas. Under the freshly-inked documents, information sharing is a cornerstone, with both sides pledging to regularly exchange information about the borderline and marker management, situations in border areas, illegal cross-border activities, unauthorised immigration, irregular migration movements, and other cross-border crimes. They will enhance professional exchanges and collaborative efforts to combat specific types of crimes, including activities that take advantage of ethnic and religious affairs to undermine the Vietnam-Laos great solidarity, as well as the illegal trafficking, transport, and storage of drugs, weapons, explosives, and many more. Besides, both sides will provide spiritual and material support in the management and protection of the borderline and markers while increasing cultural and sport exchanges to better mutual understanding and trust.