The 17th Shangri-La Dialogue – an important security forum in the Asia – Pacific opened in Singapore on June 1, gathering over 500 senior defence officials and scholars from more than 50 countries and territories.

Vietnamese Defence Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich

The Vietnamese delegation to the event is led by Defence Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army Senior Lieutenant General Pham Ngoc Minh.

Defence Minister Lich is scheduled to deliver a speech at the third plenary session themed 'Shaping Asia’s evolving security order' on June 2.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a keynote address at the opening session. This is a first time an Indian Prime Minister has attended the Shangri-La Dialogue. 

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 Asia’s evolving security order, new dimensions of terrorism and counter-terrorism and raising the bar for regional security co-operation.

The event also features several sessions covering such issues as new strategic technologies and the future of conflict, maritime security enhancement, strategic implications of military capability development in the Asia-Pacific and the management of competition in regional security cooperation. 

Convened by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, 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 ties by facilitating easy communication among the region’s most important defence and security policymakers.

US defence chief vows to reinforce security ties with ASEAN

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis (second, left) in a group photo with ASEAN defence ministers 

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis has affirmed the country’s policy on strengthening security ties with member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

On the sidelines of the 17th Asia Security Summit in Singapore, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, which officially opened in Singapore on June 1, Mattis and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also reconfirmed the importance of US engagement in the Asia-Pacific region.

During his separate talks with defence chiefs of the ASEAN nations, Mattis expressed readiness to promote the "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy," which is upheld by US President Donald Trump's administration.

The concept is aimed at ensuring stability from East Asia to Africa through cooperation with countries that share values such as freedom of navigation and the rule of law.

Mattis is scheduled to deliver a speech about security in the Indo-Pacific region at the Shangri-La Dialogue on June 2.

The Shangri-La Dialogue, sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, has been organised annually in Singapore since 2002.

Defense officials from around 40 countries, including the US and those in Asia and Europe, are participating in this year’s meeting that is scheduled to end on June 3.

VNA