The Shangri-La Dialogue

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 International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) which is attended by defence ministers, permanent heads of ministries and military chiefs of 28 Asia-Pacific states.

The forum gets its name from the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore where it has been held since 2002. It serves to cultivate a sense of community among the most important policymakers in the defence and security community 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. While primarily an inter-governmental meeting, the summit is also attended by legislators, academic experts, distinguished journalists and business delegates.

The participants include  Australia, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, China, Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, East Timor, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam. The IISS convened the 17th Asia Security Summit in Singapore from June 1-3 this year.