The 5th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue was successfully concluded on 4 June 2006.
The 5th Anniversary Shangri-La Dialogue, held in Singapore from 2 to 4 June, set a new standard for attendance by defence ministers, quality of discussion of regional security issues, and smooth organisation.
Dr John Chipman, IISS Director-General and Chief Executive, spoke at the opening dinner of the Institute’s pride at having created a security institution for the Asia-Pacific region. Numerous speakers spoke warmly of the Shangri-La Dialogue. Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defense, said it “filled an important need”.
Since the first Dialogue in 2002, Chipman said, seventeen countries had been represented by defence ministers, three by deputy ministers, and three more had sent senior-level delegations. At this year’s Dialogue, most of the 23 countries were represented by their defence minister, as well as the chief of defence staff and other senior officials.
Outside the public plenary sessions and off-the-record break-out groups, ministers and military chiefs took the opportunity to hold an extraordinary number of bilateral meetings – one of the main purposes of the Dialogue. A representative of one nation said privately that his delegation had held 25 bilateral meetings.
Evidence emerged during the conference that the Shangri-La Dialogue had been a catalyst for tangible improvements in the regional security apparatus, particularly in the field of maritime security. The 2006 Dialogue saw further practical suggestions being put forward by ministers.
