Hanoi: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited a major base used by US forces in the Vietnam War today, as Washington seeks to deepen ties with its former enemy to counter a more assertive posture from China. Panetta is the most high-ranking US official to visit Cam Ranh Bay since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.
The two countries signed a memorandum on defense cooperation last year and Panetta planned to discuss how to carry out the agreement during his two-day visit, officials said. Cam Ranh Bay airfield, one of three main hubs used by US forces in the war, once hosted squadrons of fighter jets, cargo planes and troops at the height of the Vietnam conflict.
The Vietnamese handed over the air base and naval port to the Soviet Union after the war. (AFP)