Minister for Defence Welcomes Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs as Keynote Speaker at 4th IISS Fullerton Forum: Shangri-La Dialogue Sherpa Meeting

Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen (right) and Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs General (Ret) Luhut Pandjaitan (centre) interacting with the United Kingdom Vice Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach (left) during the opening reception of the 4th Fullerton Forum.

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, General (GEN) (Ret) Luhut Pandjaitan delivered the keynote address this morning at the fourth International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Fullerton Forum: The Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) Sherpa Meeting. Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen introduced Gen (Ret) Luhut at the Forum.

Addressing an audience of defence officials, senior military officers and academics, GEN (Ret) Luhut spoke about the recent terrorist attacks by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and highlighted the need for a comprehensive strategy to counter ISIS' systematic and effective campaign. GEN (Ret) Luhut said, \"We need a systematic action plan against ISIS and other terrorist organisations…through a combination of soft and hard approaches as well as intelligence cooperation…A sole reliance on a hard approach action to fight against ISIS is hardly effective.\"

Speaking to the media after the address and in light of the recent Jakarta attacks, Dr Ng emphasised the importance for Singapore and Indonesia to work together with regional countries on counter-terrorism efforts against threats posed by radical groups. He said, \"I agree with Pak Luhut, since ISIS has become more coordinated, we also must be more coordinated. No country would be able to minimise these risks alone and the more we cooperate, the stronger we become...the danger is real and present, and this just means that we too must step up our cooperation.\"

Dr Ng also highlighted that GEN (Ret) Luhut is the first foreign keynote speaker at the Fullerton Forum since its establishment in 2013, and noted that GEN (Ret) Luhut had \"delivered an excellent exposition on terrorism that Indonesia and this region face\" which provided \"important and valuable insights to the security challenges in our region.\"

The Fullerton Forum, organised by IISS, strengthens the SLD by providing an inter-sessional platform for senior defence and, military officials and security experts to engage in frank discussions on current defence and security issues. This year's Fullerton Forum will discuss the stabilisation of major power relations in the Asia-Pacific, emerging security threats such as cybersecurity and terrorism, and the prospects for conflict management in the Asia-Pacific region.

About 65 to 70 delegates from more than 20 countries regularly represented at the SLD are participating in this year's Fullerton Forum, held from 24 to 26 January 2016.

As part of his visit programme, GEN (Ret) Luhut will also call on Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana later today.

Dr Ng delivering opening remarks at the 4th Fullerton Forum.