Shangri-La Dialogue
President Halimah hosts dinner marking 20 years of the Shangri-La Dialogue
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President Halimah Yacob (front row, centre) hosting ministers and senior officials attending the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue to a dinner at the Istana on June 3. Among the dignitaries was former Singapore president Tony Tan Keng Yam (on her left), who served as Singapore’s defence minister at the time of the inaugural summit in 2002.
PHOTO: MINDEF
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SINGAPORE - President Halimah Yacob hosted a dinner at the Istana on Saturday for government and defence leaders and defence experts attending the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD)
Former Singapore president Dr Tony Tan – who was Singapore’s minister for defence during the inaugural SLD in 2002 – was also at the dinner.
In a statement reflecting on the genesis of the SLD, Dr Tan said: “Back in 2002, many of us in the defence sector felt that the Asia-Pacific region needed a platform where defence leaders could meet to discuss key security challenges facing the region and gain a better understanding of one another’s perspective, as no similar platforms of such scale and stature existed then.”
He said Singapore had agreed to host the inaugural edition of SLD, as it believed that “peace and stability was, and remains today, an important precondition for the region’s economic growth and success”.
In her opening address, President Halimah spoke about the growth in scale and stature of the SLD through the years to remain relevant in the ever-changing security landscape. She said the dialogue has covered a wide range of topics in the 20 editions, including piracy, the South China Sea, climate change and the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
“The myriad of security challenges that have emerged over the years underscore a real need for an open and inclusive platform like the SLD,” she added.
Congratulating the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies on its efforts to grow the event over the years, President Halimah said that Singapore, as host of the SLD, is honoured to foster frank and open dialogue among key defence leaders and senior officials.
She also expressed her hope that the SLD would continue to be a platform for “countries to have a chance to hear each other out, understand different perspectives, and have candid discussions” in order to reduce the risk of misunderstandings and prevent conflict.
