DHAKA: President Barack Obama has declared that the US is fully elating its ban on sales of lethal weapons to Vietnam, its one-time enemy.

He announced this during a visit to communist Vietnam and talks with its leaders, Obama said that the move removed a ‘lingering vestige of the Cold War’, BBC reports on Monday (May 23).

The US is trying to strengthen its relationship with its Pacific allies, as China asserts territorial claims.

But Obama said the ban decision was not related to US policy on China.

‘It's based on our need to complete what has been a lengthy process of moving towards normalisation with Vietnam,’ he said in Hanoi.

Vietnam is one of several countries in the region involved in maritime disputes with China. The US insists on the right to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

In 2014, a row over a Chinese oil rig near the Paracel islands led to clashes between Chinese and Vietnamese vessels and anti-China riots in Vietnam.

White House officials had indicated the arms ban, in force since 1984, would be lifted only if human rights in Vietnam improved.

BDST: 1700 HRS, May 23, 2016
SAS/AKA