21st Shangri-La Dialogue Ends in Singapore

The 21st edition of the Asia Pacific premier defence meet, the Shangri-La Dialogue or the Asian Security Summit, concluded in Singapore on 2 June 2024. Held at the Shangri-La Hotel from 31 May to 2 June, the Dialogue saw participation from over a hundred delegates worldwide, discussing pressing security challenges and exploring fresh approaches.

Organiser and Venue

The Shangri-La Dialogue is organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in collaboration with the Singapore government. The event is permanently hosted at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, a venue inspired by the mythical utopia of peace, Shangri-La, from James Hilton’s novel “Lost Horizon.”

Background

British strategist Sir John Chipman, head of IISS, initiated the Shangri-La Dialogue in the 1990s, with support from former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The first dialogue took place in 2002. The event was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants

This year, the United States Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin inaugurated the main session, with China’s defence minister Admiral Dong Jun opening the following day’s session. The event featured defence ministers from Indonesia, Maldives, France, South Korea, among others. Additionally, prominent leaders such as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and Timor-Leste’s President Dr. José Ramos-Horta attended. India was notably absent, though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed the Dialogue in 2018.