25th January 2020 15:41:00 Hours
Over 100 top-rung delegates, comprised of defence officials, high-ranking military officers, security think-tanks, research experts and non-governmental experts from more than 25 countries who met in Singapore at the 8th IISS Fullerton Forum, known as the ‘Shangri-La Dialogue Sherpa Meeting’ during the past three days (20-22 January) sought ways to ensure security, safety, and stability in the region.
Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, acting Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army as one of the few key delegates, together with Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva, Commander of the Navy, participated in the sessions representing Sri Lanka.
The Forum commenced with the keynote speech, delivered by Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Defence, Mr Heng Chee How who emphasized on the topic, ‘Countries should seek ways to maintain multilateralism and should endeavour to strengthen multilateral processes and institutions’.
Lieutenant General Silva also had the rare distinction of having bilateral interactions with Singapore’s Senior Minister of State Mr Heng Chee How, Deputy Director, IISS, High Ranking military officers and intellectuals from New Zealand, Australia, Russia, Pakistan and Malaysia on the sidelines of four main sessions during the Forum in Singapore.
This annual forum provides an opportunity for world-wide senior defence officials, high-ranking military officers and non-governmental experts to discuss key regional security issues. Around 75 delegates took part in the 8th edition of the Fullerton Forum. The forum concluded on Wednesday (22).
Delegates continued follow-up discussions, begun at the 2019 IISS Shangri-La Dialogue of vitally important regional security questions, including how nations could protect their interests while avoiding conflict, the implications of regional developments for counter-terrorism strategies, how security challenges at sea can be managed most effectively, and how states may find common ground on security challenges.
The four sessions, providing insight on the evolving defence and security concerns that need to be addressed were themed under ‘Challenges of Missile Proliferation and Missile Defence in Asia after the INF Treaty’, ‘Protection of Maritime Interests and Freedoms’, ‘Policy Implications of New Technologies of Conflict’ and ‘Development of Inclusive Regional Security Arrangements’ and included several interactive, bilateral and multilateral meetings.
Mr Peter Tesch, Deputy Secretary, Strategic Policy and Intelligence, Department of Defence (Australia), Mr Selina Haq, Additional Secretary (Administration), Ministry of Defence (Bangladesh), Brigadier General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan Mohammad Sharif bin Dato Paduka Haji Ibrahim, Joint Force Commander, Royal Brunei Armed Forces (Brunei), Lieutenant General Nem Sowathey, Deputy Director General, Policy and Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense (Cambodia),Major General Ci Guowei, Chief, Office for International Military Cooperation, Central Military Commission (China), Rear Admiral Jürgen Ehle, Senior Military Advisor, Managing Directorate for CSDP and Crisis Response, European External Action Service, European Union (EU), Dr Nicolas Regaud, Special Representative to the Indo-Pacific, Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy, Ministry of the Armed Forces (France), Mr Sebastian Groth, Director, Policy Planning, Federal Foreign Office (Germany),Vice Admiral Jonas Haggren, Vice Chief of Defence, Sweden (IISS Guests), Nazli Jafri Shayin, Joint Secretary, Department of Defence, Ministry of Defence (India), First Admiral Didik Kurniawan, Chief of International Cooperation, International Cooperation Center, Indonesian Armed Forces (Indonesia), Air Vice Marshal Tim Innes, Commander, Headquarters Integrated Area Defence System, Five Power Defence Arrangements, Irvine Reginald Paki Ormsby Director, Policy, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (International Organisations), Mr Suzuki Hideo, Director General, International Affairs, Bureau of Defense Policy, Ministry of Defense, Rear Admiral Fukuda Tatsuya Deputy Director General, Defence Plans and Policy Department (55), Joint Staff, Japan Self Defence Forces (Japan) ,Mr Lee Won-Ik Director-General, International Policy Bureau, Ministry of National Defence (Republic of Korea), Senator Liew Chin Tong, Deputy Minister of Defence, Vice Admiral Dato' Ganesh Navaratnam, President of the National Centre for Defence Studies (NCDS), Malaysian Armed Forces (Malaysia), Mike Yardley, Acting Deputy Secretary of Defence (New Zealand), Lieutenant General Muhammad Chiragh Haider Director General, Joint Staff, Pakistan Army (Pakistan), Lieutenant General (Retd) Cardozo Manalo Luna Undersecretary of National Defence (Philippines), Major General Evgenii Ilyin, First Deputy Chief, Main Directorate of the International Military Cooperation, Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Russia), Mr Teo Eng Dih, Deputy Secretary (Policy), Ministry of Defence, Brigadier General Tan Chee Wee, Chief of Staff - Joint Staff/ SAF Inspector-General, Colonel Amos Yeo, Director, Defence Policy Office, Ministry of Defence, Keith Rodrigues, Director, International Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Brigadier General Yew Chee Leung, Group Chief, Policy and Strategy, Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, acting Chief of Defence Staff and Commander, Sri Lanka Army and Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva, Commander, Sri Lanka Navy (Sri Lanka), Brigadier General Markus Mäder, Director, International Relations, Swiss Armed Forces (Switzerland), Admiral Somprasong Nilsamai, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Defence, Admiral Patchara Pumpiched, Deputy Chief of Defence Forces (Thailand), Martinho Maia Goncalves Director-General, Defence Policy and International Cooperation, Ministry of Defence (Timor-Leste), Major General Stephen McMahon Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff, Military Strategy and Defence Engagement, Ministry of Defence (UK), Mr David Helvey, Acting Assistant Secretary, Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, US Department of Defence, Major General Stephen Sklenka, Director, Strategic Planning and Policy, US Indo-Pacific Command (US) and Major General Nguyen Van Than, Director-General, Institute for Defence Strategy, Ministry of National Defence (Vietnam) had been invited to the Forum as key delegates, in addition to other participants as officials.
The Fullerton Forum alias Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), held since 2002 is a "Track One" inter-governmental security forum, held annually by the independent think-tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which is attended by worldwide defence ministers, permanent heads of ministries and military chiefs. The summit serves to cultivate a sense of community among the most important policymakers in the defence and security spheres in the region. Government delegations have made the best out of the meeting by holding bilateral meetings with other delegations on the sidelines of the conference. The Fullerton Forum is also attended by legislators, academic experts, distinguished journalists and business delegates. Nike Sneakers | Men's Footwear
