SINGAPORE, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam hosted a dinner at the Istana Saturday evening to commemorate the 15th Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) held here from June 3 to 5.
Speaking to an audience of ministers and senior officials attending the SLD, Tan spoke about the SLD's growth over the past 15 years and underscored its importance as a platform for participating countries to exchange views on regional security issues and defence cooperation.
Tan, who had been Singapore's Minister for Defence during the SLD's inception in 2002, said that Singapore had wanted to contribute to the then-less established regional security architecture by creating a platform where defence leaders from the Asia-Pacific region could meet to have frank discussions and gain better understanding of one another's perspectives.
"Many of us in the defence sector therefore felt that the Asia-Pacific region needed a platform where defence leaders could meet to share viewpoints and gain a better understanding of one another's perspectives. There was also a need for platforms to promote greater cooperation to deal with growing transnational threats, including terrorism," he said.
In his speech, President Tan noted that "the first SLD was prescient in focusing our attention on many of the security issues that all countries continue to grapple with." He recalled that the transnational threat of religious extremism and terrorism was a growing concern at the first SLD, and remained a security concern for many countries 15 years on.
He also thanked the many countries that had contributed to the success of the SLD over the years, and acknowledged that "the SLD has grown and established itself as the premier defence and security forum in the Asia-Pacific region" because of the active participation of many countries from around the world.
