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SINGAPORE — Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and Lt. Gen. George B. Rowell IV, the command’s deputy, joined Pete Hegseth and his delegation for a series of meetings with senior military and government officials from allied and partner nations at the Shangri-La Dialogue from May 29–31, 2026. The engagements focused on addressing global security challenges, deepening relationships, and strengthening partnerships.
Hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Shangri-La Dialogue convened defense ministers, military chiefs, and security experts from more than 40 nations for discussions on pressing Indo-Pacific security issues and high-level bilateral talks.
Rowell spoke on the panel “Enhancing Littoral Security in Asia,” where he outlined the command’s denial defense strategy along the first island chain. He emphasized that allied partnerships, distributed posture, and AI-driven decision dominance are essential to deterring aggression and prevailing in the modern littoral environment.
Throughout the forum, Paparo and Rowell hosted and took part in more than 20 bilateral and multilateral engagements to underscore U.S. commitments to allies and partners. The sessions aimed to increase mutual understanding of regional security challenges, enhance cooperation across the Indo-Pacific, confront common threats, and safeguard shared interests.
Command leaders also met with participants in the Young Leaders Program, focusing on people-to-people ties and reinforcing shared values among the Indo-Pacific’s emerging defense community.
Singapore, described as one of the United States’ strongest bilateral partners in Southeast Asia, plays an indispensable role in regional security. The two countries continued to strengthen a relationship grounded in mutual economic interests, robust defense cooperation, and deep people-to-people ties.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command affirmed its commitment to enhancing stability in the region by promoting security cooperation, encouraging peaceful development, responding to contingencies, deterring aggression and, when necessary, prevailing in conflict.
