Modi at Shangri-La Dialogue: North Korea likely to dominate conference this year

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Singapore on Thursday, May 31, as the third and final stop of his five-day tour of Southeast Asia. There, he will address the high-profile Shangri-La Dialogue, the annual defence and security conference which is held in the city-state's Shangri-La Hotel since 2002 and is attended by high-level representatives from various countries of the Asia-Pacific. Modi will be the first Indian leader to give a keynote address at the dialogue.

This year, the Shangri-La Dialogue is likely to be dominated by the issue of North Korean peace process and security in the Korean Peninsula. North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un is expected to meet US President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12 although Trump pulled out of the talks on May 24, citing Pyongyang's "tremendous anger and open hostility". All the concerned parties are working overtime since Trump's decision and now the prospects of the summit look brighter again.

Security in the Korean peninsula will most likely dominate the agenda at this year's Shangri-La Dialogue, which comes less than two weeks ahead of a highly probable summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, Singapore's The Straits Times said in a report.

Defence ministers, military heads and top officials from over 40 nations are expected to gather in Singapore to discuss the regional security challenges and trends at the three-day dialogue starting Friday, June 1.

Besides the North Korean issue, terrorism, future conflicts and emerging technologies will also be discussed at the dialogue, the Times reported.

While Modi will speak on the occasion on Friday, laying out his vision for the Indo-Pacific and India's strategic role in the region, US Secretary of Defence James Mattis is likely to speak again on North Korea, the country he had warned against in more hostile circumstances in the region last year, on Saturday, June 2.