A Vietnamese military delegation led by Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich will attend the 17th Asia Security Summit or Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore from May 31 to June 3.

Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich will attend the 17th Asia Security Summit in Singapore from May 31 to June 3. 

The attendance affirms Vietnam’s proactive role in regional and global issues. It also shows the country’s wish to bolster cooperation with foreign countries in addressing common security threats.

The agenda includes five plenary sessions on US leadership and the challenges of Indo-Pacific security, de-escalating the crisis in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, shaping new dimensions of terrorism and counter-terrorism and raising the bar for regional security cooperation.

The event also features six sessions covering strategies, sea security and removing conflicts in regional security cooperation.

Defence Minister Lich is scheduled to deliver a speech at the Dialogue and have bilateral meetings with foreign defence ministers.

Convened by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the Shangri-La Dialogue is the most important regular gathering of defence professionals in Asia-Pacific, a vital annual fixture in the diaries of ministers and their civilian and military chiefs of staff.

Since its launch in 2002, the Dialogue has built confidence and fostered security cooperation by facilitating easy communication among the region’s most important defence and security policy-makers.

The 2018 conference will feature a speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.-VNA