{"id":105133,"date":"2021-04-02T22:58:45","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T22:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=182100"},"modified":"2021-04-02T22:58:45","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T22:58:45","slug":"russia-to-build-airport-train-armed-forces-in-sign-of-strengthening-military-ties-with-laos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/04\/02\/russia-to-build-airport-train-armed-forces-in-sign-of-strengthening-military-ties-with-laos\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia to Build Airport, Train Armed Forces in Sign of Strengthening Military Ties With Laos"},"content":{"rendered":"
Russian troops have been clearing an area of around 500 hectares (1,240 acres) of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Laos\u2019s Xieng Khouang province with plans to build a new airport and military facility as part of an expansion of military aid to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, according to Lao officials.<\/p>\n
A Russian demining team has been working with Lao counterparts to clear the UXO since Dec. 5, 2020, the provincial officials recently told RFA\u2019s Lao Service, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans with the media.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Russians came here to build a military airport on the other side of the Plain of Jars,\u201d one of the officials said, referring to the archeological landscape in the Xieng Khouang Plateau that was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re currently clearing the UXO and then they\u2019re going to upgrade the existing airport, making it larger and more beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another Xieng Khouang official, who is a provincial military officer, provided further details about the new airport to RFA.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Russian and Lao armed forces together are building this new airport that will be larger than the existing one and will be divided in two different zones,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne zone is for Lao and Russian military use and the other is for civilian use.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer said that the Russian military intends to provide substantial assistance to Laos going forward, including with training and developing the latter\u2019s armed forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome work on the new airport has already begun, but the actual construction will not start anytime soon because the UXO clearance will take some time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce the UXO has been cleared, we\u2019ll lay underground powerlines. We\u2019ll do our work step by step.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides the airport, the Russians intend to expand military cooperation with Laos that will include building a facility to train Lao troops on how to use Russian military equipment, according to a report by Russian news agency Sputniknews.com.<\/p>\n
A former senior government official in Laos told RFA that the two sides are expanding cooperation in line with an agreement they have in place on security and defense, as well as the new airport.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the agreements, most cooperation would include training and teaching military techniques to the Lao armed forces,\u201d said the former official, who also declined to be named.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had more cooperation and more Russian military presence in Laos during the Soviet era,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
RFA spoke with an official at the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs who claimed not to know anything about the Russian military aid projects.<\/p>\n