SINGAPORE, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The fifth Asia Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-la Dialogue, concluded in Singapore Sunday afternoon after addressing several regional security and defense issues.

    Some 250 defense ministers, military officials and scholars from more than 20 countries and regions in Asia Pacific, North America and Europe including the United States, India, Britain, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and China participated in the three-day event.

    They exchanged views on the United States' engagement in Asia's security architecture, the rise of India as a global player, the role of the armed forces in disaster relief and peacekeeping, setting national security priorities, as well as establishing a regional security community.

    They felt that countries in the Asia-Pacific region need to move from principles to practices and that more activities to build regional security capacity, such as table-top or joint exercises, should be encouraged.

    Eminent participants included U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Australian  Defense Minister Brendan Nelson, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Najib Razak, South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang Ung and Singapore's Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean.

    Organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the annual dialogue was held at Singapore's Shangri-la hotel since its inauguration in 2002. Enditem