Discussion on Strategic Outcomes and Lessons Learnt from the Shangri-La Dialogue for the Region and India

The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised a discussion on "Strategic Outcomes and Lessons Learnt from the Shangri-La Dialogue for the Region and India” on 26 June 2023. Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF, Chaired the session and gave the opening remarks. Mr. Nitin A. Gokhale, Amb. Arun Kumar Singh, Amb. P.S. Raghavan, Amb. D.B. Venkatesh Varma, Lt. Gen. R. K. Sawhney (Retd.), Gp. Cap. Naval Jagota (Retd.) and Dr. Sweta Kumari participated in the discussion.

The discussion was based on the key takeaways from the 20th edition of the Shangri La Dialogue that was held between June 02 and 04, 2023. This year the dialogue focussed on the security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. It was highlighted that the US and China as usual were the most dominant participants in the dialogue. The US delegation was led by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin while State Councilor and Defense Minister General Li Shangfu headed the Chinese delegation. However, given the ongoing tensions over the Taiwan issue between the two countries, Beijing refused to hold talk between the Defence Ministers on the sidelines of the dialogue. The discussion also outlined some of the important points from the speech of Indian Deputy National Security Advisor Vikram Misri at the event. The discussion emphasised that India needs to understand the relevance of Shangri-La Dialogue in building narratives in the Indo- Pacific region and it should have a greater participation in the same.