Bangladesh’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Khalilur Rahman and not Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman would attend the premier Shangri-La Dialogue 2025 in Singapore.
Held annually in Singapore, the dialogue is Asia’s premier defence summit. It enables decision-makers from across the Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe and the Middle East to gather together to discuss the most pressing regional security issues and to share policy responses.
Khalilur Rahman flew out for Singapore tonight and will attend the first day of the dialogue tomorrow when bilateral meetings will be held. This will be followed on May 31 – when the summit will open – with the first plenary session in which the main topic will be “United States’ New Ambitions for Indo-Pacific Security”.
Three other critical topics – “Defence Innovation Solutions for Future Challenges”, “Regional Crisis-Management Mechanisms” and “Cooperative Maritime Security in the Asia-Pacific” – will be deliberated upon on May 1.
On June 1, during the fifth plenary, the main focus will be on “China’s Global Security Partnerships”.
Bangladeshi sources familiar with Khalilur Rahman’s participation in the Shangri La Dialogue said that the NSA exerted his influence over the Yunus-led regime to elbow out Gen Zaman so he could attend the Singapore conference that is key from Bangladesh’s perspective.
The 2024 edition of the Shangri-La Dialogue was attended by Bangladesh’s the then Army chief Gen S M Shafiuddin Ahmed.
Incidentally, India’s Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan will also be in Singapore to attend the dialogue where he will speak on “Future Wars and Warfare”. It is not known whether there will be any formal meeting between Khalilur Rahman and Gen Chauhan.
