Five sources informed Reuters today, Sunday, that senior officials from about twenty major intelligence agencies around the world held a secret meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meetings in Singapore earlier this week. They indicated that this meeting has been organized by the Singaporean government and has been held secretly in a separate location alongside the security summit for several years.
One person familiar with the discussions said that "the meeting is an important element on the international shadow agenda... Given the group of countries involved, this is not an intelligence meeting, but rather a means to enhance understanding of intentions and underlying matters more deeply." He added: "There is an unspoken code among intelligence agencies that they can talk when diplomatic communication and dealings are difficult... It's a crucial factor during times of tension, and the Singapore meeting helps to enhance that."
A spokesperson for Singapore’s Ministry of Defence noted that "during the Shangri-La security dialogue, participants, including senior officials from intelligence agencies, seize the opportunity to meet with their counterparts." He added: "The Ministry of Defence in Singapore may facilitate some of these bilateral or multilateral meetings... Participants consider such gatherings held on the sidelines of the dialogue to be beneficial." U.S. National Intelligence Director Avril Haines attended the meeting, representing the United States, while China was among the other attending nations.
