HAVANA - A Vietnamese military delegation on Tuesday started an official visit to Cuba as part of efforts to promote the bilateral military relations.

"I hope that our visit will help strengthen the relations between the two armies and the two people," said Nguyen Quoc Khanh, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

"We have come to widen the bonds of brotherhood and fraternity that have united our people for years on the fundamental pillars built by historic leaders of both our countries, Fidel Castro and Ho Chi Minh," Nguyen said at an event in Havana.

Nguyen, who headed a large delegation of Vietnamese officials, started the four-day visit at the mausoleum of Cacahual. They will also visit military units, institutions and historical places.

The visit followed the one in June by Vietnam's Deputy Defense Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh, who signed a military collaboration agreement with the Cuban army.

Havana and Hanoi forged diplomatic relations in 1960 and have since then signed a set of cooperation agreements on trade, agriculture, biotechnology, construction, computers and telecommunications, tourism and sports. The current bilateral trade is at the scale of about $500 million.