SINGAPORE, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Minister for Defense Teo Chee Hean called for more regional and international cooperation to tackle global security challenges when he spoke on Sunday at a plenary session of the fifth Asia Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-la Dialogue.

    "It is critical that countries both in the region and stakeholders from outside the region move from principles to practice, to implement cooperative measures which will create real capacities for prevention, protection and even consequence management," Teo said.

    Noting that globalization has made countries in the world more dependent on one another in terms of security and economic well-being, Teo stressed that they have to develop better understanding and substantively strengthen cooperation to meet their national security priorities, particularly maritime security and energy security.

    He suggested that countries concerned conduct more exercises together to enhance inter-operability and tighten the mechanisms and channels for collaboration in case of disasters.

    Organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the three-day dialogue, which opened on Friday night, gathered some 250 delegates from more than 20 countries and regions in Asia Pacific, North America and Europe to address major regional security issues.

    The annual dialogue has been held at Singapore's Shangri-la hotel since its inauguration in 2002. Enditem

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