Security Relationships Across Asia-Pacific
IISS Shangri-La Dialogue Concludes, Promises Further Strengthening of Security Relationships Across Asia-Pacific and Beyond
The 6th IISS Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-La Dialogue, which opened on Friday 1 June with its largest ever gathering of ministers and senior security officials from 22 participating countries, welcomed more defence and foreign ministers, chiefs of defence staff, and other senior ranking officials than in any previous Dialogue.
The 2007 Shangri-La Dialogue helped to improve US-Chinese military understanding, made possible by the participation of Lieutenant General Zhang Qinsheng, Deputy Chief of Staff of the PLA. Germany, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh participated at Minister and Vice Minister level for the first time.
The programme consisted of a Keynote Address delivered by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and five plenary sessions featuring addresses by the defence ministers of the United States, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Germany. Further addresses were made by the Secretary of National Defense of the Philippines and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka.
Private bilateral meetings and off-the-record Break Out Groups are also central focuses of the Shangri-La Dialogue programme. These public and private meetings over the weekend facilitated further exchange of information on military programmes and defence and training agreements. As in previous years, the lasting effect of the Dialogue will be in the continuation of relationships and governmental agreements aimed at increasing regional security.
In his closing remarks, IISS Director-General Dr John Chipman CMG looked to the future, stating that ‘2008 will see the 50th anniversary of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, and in this commemorative year we will work to increase the number of countries represented at the Dialogue, the depth and breadth of participation, increase its focus, and make the Break Out Groups of further use to regional participants.’
With the signature of an agreement between the IISS and the Ministry of Defence of the Government of Singapore to convene the summit in Singapore through 2011, the Shangri-La Dialogue will remain the premier security institution in the Asia-Pacific region.
For full coverage of the Shangri-La Dialogue, please visit http://www.iiss.org/conferences/the-shangri-
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