Singapore:
Senior officials from about two dozen of the world’s major intelligence agencies held a secret meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore this weekend, five people told Reuters.
Such gatherings are organized by the Singapore government and have been held discreetly for years in a separate location next to the security summit, they said. The meetings have not been previously reported.
The US was represented by the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, the head of her country’s intelligence community, while China was one of the other countries present, despite the tensions between the two superpowers.
Samant Goel, the head of India’s overseas intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, was also present, an Indian source said.
“The meeting is an important part of the international shadow agenda,” says a person with knowledge of the discussions. “Given the large number of countries involved, it is not a festival of craft, but rather a way to promote a better understanding of intentions and bottom lines.
“There is an unspoken code among intelligence agencies that they can discuss when more formal and open diplomacy is more difficult – it is a very important factor in times of tension, and the Singapore event helps to further that.”
All five sources who discussed the meetings declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
A spokesman for Singapore’s Ministry of Defense said that while attending the Shangri-La Dialogue, “Participants, including senior intelligence officials, also take the opportunity to meet with their counterparts.”
“The Ministry of Defense of Singapore can facilitate some of these bilateral or multilateral meetings,” the spokesman said. “Participants have found such meetings on the sidelines of (dialogue) helpful.”
The US embassy in Singapore said it had no information about the meeting. The Chinese and Indian governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand operate what is called the Five Eyes Network to collect and share a wide variety of intelligence, and their intelligence officers meet regularly.
Larger intelligence community gatherings are rarer and almost never published.
While few details were available about the specific talks in Singapore, the Russian war in Ukraine and cross-border crime came up on Friday, the person with knowledge of the talks added. On Thursday evening, the intelligence chiefs held an informal meeting.
No Russian representative was present, according to one of the sources. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister Volodymr V. Havrylov attended the Shangri-La dialogue, but said he did not attend the intelligence meeting.
Another source said the tone of the meeting was collaborative and cooperative, not confrontational.
During the main security dialogue, more than 600 delegates from 49 countries held three days of plenary sessions, as well as bilateral and multilateral meetings behind closed doors at the sprawling Shangri-La Hotel.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese delivered the keynote address, while US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu and counterparts from Britain,
Japan, Canada, Indonesia and South Korea also spoke.
Haines was one of the official US delegates to the Shangri-La Dialogue. During a discussion of cybersecurity in the main meeting, she said in response to a question from a Chinese military officer that cooperation between countries is essential.
“It’s absolutely crucial, even when there’s distrust, and even when you’re basically facing adversaries, that you still try to work through and collaborate on issues of mutual interest and also try to manage the potential for escalation “, she said.
US officials said Friday that CIA director William Burns visited China last month for talks with Chinese counterparts as the Biden administration tries to boost communications with Beijing.
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