Singapore To Host twenty third Shangri-La Dialogue

Singapore will host the twenty third Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) from 29 May to 31 May 2026. This 12 months’s version, organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), will see 44 nations in attendance, with 54 Ministerial-level delegates and greater than 42 Chief of Defence Forces-level delegates and senior defence officers, in addition to outstanding lecturers. His Excellency Tô Lâm, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, will ship the Keynote Address on 29 May 2026, whereas President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Dr José Ramos-Horta will ship a Special Address on 30 May 2026. President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will even host a reception on the Istana on 30 May 2026. Beyond the robust attendance from nations throughout the Asia Pacific and Europe, different notable attendees from this 12 months’s SLD embrace Qatar Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs His Excellency Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Nurlan Yermekbayev, and United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Minister for Defence, Mr Chan Chun Sing will converse at a plenary session on 31 May 2026 on the subject “Evolving Security Partnerships in a Fragmenting World”. As a daily function of the SLD, Mr Chan will host visiting Ministers to Roundtable discussions on 30 and 31 May 2026, and the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) Defence Ministers to breakfast. Ahead of Singapore’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2027, he’ll be part of his Philippines counterpart Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr. to co-host a breakfast assembly with ASEAN Defence Ministers. Mr Chan will even conduct bilateral conferences with Ministers and senior officers from numerous nations on the sidelines of the SLD.

The SLD was established in 2002, and is the premier defence and safety convention within the Asia-Pacific area. Over the years, the SLD has supplied a worthwhile platform for the alternate of views on defence and safety points and initiatives. The SLD additionally facilitates alternatives for like-minded nations to return collectively and cooperate to deal with new challenges.