Vietnam to take part in UN peacekeeping missions
HANOI -- Vietnam will join UN peacekeeping operations for the first time in an effort to expand its international role, state-run media reported Tuesday.
Deputy Defense Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh told UN Assistant General Secretary Edmond Mulet that Vietnamese troops would take part in peacekeeping missions beginning next year, Vietnam News Agency said.
Vietnam will initially take part in bomb and mine clearance and army healthcare because of its extensive experience in those fields, Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh was quoted as saying before the meeting in Hanoi.
There are 15 peacekeeping missions across the world with more than 90,300 police, troops and military observers from 115 countries.
