In a first, Modi to address Shangri-la event
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver the keynote address at the prestigious Shangri-la Dialogue next year.
This is the first time an Indian Prime Minister will deliver the keynote address at the annual event since its inception in 2002.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which runs the conference for the government of Singapore, in a statement said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his speech at the closing ceremony of the 31st Asean Summit in Manila confirmed that Modi will speak at the dialogue on June 1, 2018.
The IISS Shangri-la Dialogue is an annual meeting of defence ministers, military chiefs and top-ranking defence officials from across Asia-pacific and other countries concerned with the region’s security.
IISS-ASIA executive director Tim Huxley said, “We are very pleased that Prime Minister Modi will speak at the Shangri-la Dialogue next year. The decision of India’s Prime Minister to speak to defence and security leaders from across the Asia-pacific region underlines the importance of India’s ‘Act East’ policy. We know Prime Minister Modi’s speech will be eagerly anticipated in the region.”
Last year, India had pulled out of the event where its delegation was led by minister of state f or defence Subhash Bhamre after he was given a slot lower than Pakistan’s Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Zubair Mahmood Hayat.
However, the Indian envoy to Singapore was present at the event.
Officials in New Delhi refused to offer any comment, maintaining that the Indian government had not officially announced the visit.
“The invite to the Prime Minister signifies the importance Singapore as well as the organisers of the dialogue attach to India and its role in the region and beyond,” said an official.