Shangri-La Dialogue
The dialogue is commonly attended by defence ministers, permanent heads of ministries and military chiefs of mostly Asia-Pacific states.
While primarily an inter-governmental meeting, the summit is also attended by legislators, academic experts, distinguished journalists and business delegates.
Over the years, the Shangri-La Dialogue has become one of the most important independent forums for the exchange of views by international security policy decision-makers.
Besides the host nation, countries that have participated in the dialogue have included Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.
The SLD was conceived by the current IISS Director-General and Chief Executive Sir John Chipman in 2001 in response to the clear need for a forum where the Asia Pacific defence ministers could engage in dialogue aimed at building confidence and fostering practical security cooperation.
[2] Initially the SLD was modelled after the Munich Conference on Security Policy, but with greater ambition - to create a Track One organization that "defence ministers needed if they were to have any chance at all of meeting multilaterally in a transregional format".
The Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army (with the status of Vice-Minister) Lieutenant-General Zhang Qinsheng, led Beijing's delegation that year.
Then in 2009, Vietnam was represented at full ministerial status with General Phung Quang Thanh leading its delegation.
Notably despite the natural disasters in their respective countries, Myanmar and China were led by high-level officers, Deputy Minister of Defence, Major-General Aye Myint for Myanmar and Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General Ma Xiaotian for China.
[10] In 2009, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was the first head of government other than Singapore to address the summit's opening dinner.
[11][12] Malaysian Prime Minister Najib in his keynote address mentioned new multilaterism to deal with security challenges to the region includes people smuggling, drug trafficking, terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
[13][14][15] The United States reiterated its commitment to the Asia Pacific region despite having budgetary constraints, wars and a waning domestic economy.
[13][16] Outgoing US defence secretary Robert Gates said he will bet anyone $100 that in the next five years US influence will be strong if not stronger than today.
[17] The United States has always been seen as the preeminent power in the Pacific Rim and now has to accommodate an emerging China to help maintain stability and security in the region.
Introduced by the second summit in 2003, break-out groups are held concurrently with each other and allow more open discussion between participants on specific issues.
The summit has been consistently attended by a mix of 200-plus non-government delegates, which include politicians, academics, businessmen, think tank analysts, media and other NGO personnel.
