Senior officials from almost two dozen of the world’s main intelligence organisations met in secret on the outskirts of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore.
According to them, such discussions are organized by the Singapore government and have been held surreptitiously at a separate venue alongside the security summit for numerous years. The meetings have not before been reported.
The meeting is an important fixture on the international shadow agenda,” said one person with knowledge of the discussions.
Given the variety of countries represented, it is not a tradecraft festival, but rather a means of creating a better understanding of aims and bottom lines.
There is an unspoken code among intelligence services that they can talk when more formal and open diplomacy is more difficult – it is a very important factor during times of tension, and the Singapore event promotes that.
All five sources who discussed the meetings declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Despite the tensions between the two superpowers, China was one of the other countries there and was represented by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, the top of her nation’s intelligence community.
Samant Goel, the head of India’s overseas intelligence gathering agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, also attended, according to an Indian source.
A spokesperson for the Singapore Ministry of Defence said that while attending the Shangri-La Dialogue, participants including senior officials from intelligence agencies also took the opportunity to meet their counterparts.
The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand operate what is called the Five Eyes network to gather and share a broad range of intelligence, and their intelligence officials meet frequently.
Larger meetings of the intelligence community are rarer, and almost never publicised.
Although few details were available on the specific discussions in Singapore, Russia’s war in Ukraine and transnational crime figured in the talks on Friday, the person with knowledge of the discussions added. On Thursday evening, the intelligence chiefs held an informal gathering.
At the main security dialogue, more than 600 delegates from 49 countries held three days of plenary sessions, as well as closed-door bilateral and multilateral meetings at the sprawling Shangri-La Hotel.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave the keynote address while U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu and counterparts from Britain,
Japan, Canada, Indonesia and South Korea also spoke.
Haines was among the official U.S. delegates to the Shangri-La Dialogue. At a discussion on cybersecurity in the main meeting, she said in response to a question from a Chinese military officer that cooperation between countries was essential.
