U.S. President Joe Biden spoke highly of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the U.S. and Vietnam as a model for post-war reconciliation in his speech at the 79th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

This is his last speech to the UN General Assembly as president of the U.S..

At the beginning of the speech, Biden outlined his political career, which began in 1972 when he was first elected as a U.S. senator. At the time, the U.S. was still involved in the war in Vietnam.

“Back then, we were living through an inflection point, a moment of tension and uncertainty," Biden said.

“America was at war in Vietnam, and at that point, the longest war in America’s history.”

He added that the U.S. was divided and angry.  

The U.S. and the world got through that moment, including ending the war in Vietnam, but it was not easy or simple for the U.S., Biden said.

He recalled his visit to Vietnam in September 2023 during which he met with the Vietnamese leadership and elevated the two countries’ partnership to the highest level. 

“It’s a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the capacity for reconciliation that today the United States and Vietnam are partners and friends, and it’s proof that even from the horrors of war there is a way forward," he said.

"Things can get better.

“We should never forget that.”

Vietnam and the U.S. announced the normalization of their diplomatic relations on July 11, 1995, opening a new phase of cooperation between the two countries in the spirit of ‘leaving the past behind, overcoming differences, promoting similarities, and looking toward the future.’

They officially set up a comprehensive partnership in 2013 before late Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and U.S. President Biden announced the elevation of their bilateral relations to comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest level in the Southeast Asian country's international relations, during the latter’s visit to Hanoi in September last year.

The two countries’ relations have seen strong development in all sectors since then.

Speaking at a program on September 22 to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Vietnam-U.S. comprehensive strategic partnership, Vietnam’s Party General Secretary and State President To Lam said 30 years earlier, even the most optimistic person could not imagine how Vietnam and the U.S. could overcome the pain of war to build and develop their strong and positive relations.

The two countries have witnessed unprecedented strong progress.

This is truly the pinnacle of reconciliation and the development of bilateral relations as well as the result of countless efforts by generations of leaders and peoples of the two countries over the past three decades, including significant contributions of the Vietnamese community in the U.S., the Vietnamese leader noted.

Like us on Facebook or  follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!