On May 27-29 Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė will pay a visit to Japan where she will see Minister of Defence of Japan Gen Nakatani, Chair of the Committee on National Security at the House of Representatives Takashi Endo, National Security Advisor Masataka Okano and former Minister of Defence Minoru Kihara. Minister will discuss security in the Indro-Pacific, bilateral defence cooperation initiatives industry, cyber security, aid to Ukraine, and more.
Minister will also take part in a debate on the Indo-Pacific and relations with the U.S. with representatives of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation think tank. D. Šakalienė is also planned to visit the Enforcement Coordination Cell (ECC) for monitoring DPRK.
It is the first visit of a Lithuanian Minister of National Defence to Japan since 2014.
Later D. Šakalienė will travel to Singapore to take part in the Shangri-la Dialogue Security Forum on May 30–June 1. On the margins of the event Minister is planned to meet up with Minister of Defence of Australia Richard Marles, Secretary of National Defence of the Philippines Gilbert Teodoro, and representatives of Singapore to discuss bilateral relations , security of the Indo-Pacific and aid to Ukraine. A meeting with Bastian Giegerich, Director-General and Chief Executive of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is also scheduled.
An annual security forum held in Singapore, the Shangri-la Dialogue is the top-level platform for defence debate in Asia where decision-makers from Asia, Europe, U.S. and other regions worldwide address the most relevant topics of regional security.
