Asanga Abeyagoonasekera invited for region’s top defence conference ‘The Shangri-La Dialogue’ in S’

Saturday, 2 July 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Asanga Abeyagoonasekera was invited by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) to attend the 15th Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, 3-5 June. The IISS Asia Security Summit ‘The Shangri-La Dialogue’ (SLD) is a ‘Track One’ inter-governmental security forum held annually by an independent think tank, the IISS which is attended by defence ministers, permanent heads of ministries and military chiefs of Asia-Pacific states.

There were 612 delegates representing ASEAN, Asia, Europe, China and United States at the security summit. While primarily an inter-governmental meeting, the summit is also attended by legislators, academic experts, distinguished journalists and business delegates. 21 defence ministers and deputy defence ministers will participate with over 30 countries represented. More than 40 renowned panellists will address a range of regional security challenges. The summit serves to cultivate a sense of community among the most important policymakers in the defence and security community in the region. Asanga is a visiting lecturer on International Political Economy, University of London at Royal Institute Colombo.