Singapore Hosts 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue
SINGAPORE will host the 23rd edition of the Shangri-La Dialogue organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) from May 29-31. A total of 44 countries will be in attendance, with 54 Ministerial-level delegates and more than 42 Chief of Defence Forces-level delegates and senior defence officials, as well as prominent academics.
Vietnam’s president and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam will deliver the keynote address while Timor-Leste’s president Dr José Ramos-Horta and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth are among the speakers confirmed for the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2026. Additionally, the US delegation will include the Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo alongside deputy commander Lieutenant General George Rowell and US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson.
However, China’s defence minister Adm Dong Jun is expected to skip the Dialogue for the second time in a row, with the country likely to be represented by a lower-level delegation from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) National Defence University. The Chinese Ministry of National Defence stated that the China delegation is to be led by Major General Meng Xiangqing from the university.
Singapore’s defence minister Chan Chun Sing will speak at a plenary session on May 31 with the topic: “Evolving Security Partnerships in a Fragmenting World”. The minister will also host visiting counterparts as well as the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) defence ministers’ meeting. Additionally, he is to co-host a meeting of ASEAN Defence Ministers with his Philippines counterpart Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr..
Confirmed speakers for the Dialogue include:
Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani, Qatar Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs
Raja Dato’ Nushirwan bin Zainal Abidin, Malaysia National Security Council Director General, Prime Minister’s Department Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin, Malaysia Minister of Defence
General Romeo Brawner Jr, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff
General Carsten Breuer, Germany Chief of Defence
Kevin Brosseau, Canada Department of National Defence Senior Associate Deputy Minister
Dr Thanos Dokos, Greece National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister
Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, NATO Chair of the Military Committee Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, Netherlands Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence
General Onno Eichelsheim, Netherlands Chief of Defence
Ahn Gyu-back, South Korea Minister of National Defence
Dr Kao Kim Hourn, ASEAN Secretary-General
Robertas Kaunas, Lithuania Minister of National Defence
Koizumi Shinjirō, Japan Minister of Defence
General Sir Rob Magowan, UK Ministry of Defence Commander of Cyber and Specialist Operations Command
Richard Marles, Australia Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence
Chris Penk, New Zealand Minister of Defence
Lieutenant General George Rowell, US Indo-Pacific Command Deputy Commander
Tore Sandvik, Norway Minister of Defence
Chan Chun Sing, Singapore Coordinating Minister for Public Services and Minister for Defence Rajesh Kumar Singh, India Ministry of Defence Defence Secretary
Mirjana Spoljaric, International Committee of the Red Cross President
Gilberto Teodoro Jr, Philippines Secretary of National Defence
Cui Tiankai, Former China Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vice Minister
Lieutenant General Bambang Trisnohadi Indonesian National Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Territorial Affairs
Catherine Vautrin, France Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans
Major General Meng Xiangqing, China People’s Liberation Army National Defence University Professor; Member, National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference
Nurlan Yermekbayev, The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Secretary-General,
Lieutenant General Nauman Zakria, Pakistan Army Commander 1 Corps and Commander of Army Rocket Force Command
Pawel Zalewski, Poland Deputy Minister of National Defence