US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines is said to have attended a secret meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Reuters news agency published an exclusive report on June 4 that senior intelligence officials from about 24 countries held a secret meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's leading security conference taking place from June 2-4 in Singapore.
Citing five anonymous sources, the report said such secret meetings were organized by the Singapore government and have been held in parallel with the Shangri-La Dialogue for the past few years, although this information has never been revealed before.
The US was represented by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, while China was among the countries represented, although tensions between the two countries have not yet eased.
An Indian source said the country's representative was Mr. Samant Goel, director of the Indian Research and Analysis Wing, the agency in charge of collecting overseas intelligence.
"The meeting is an important part of the international agenda held behind closed doors. Given the range of countries involved, it is a way to foster a deeper understanding of intentions and conclusions," according to a source.
"There is an unwritten rule among intelligence agencies that they can discuss when formal and open diplomacy is more difficult, which is a very important factor in times of tension and the events in Singapore helped to promote that," the source said.
A Singapore Ministry of Defence spokesman said that while attending the Shangri-La Dialogue, "attendees including senior officials from intelligence agencies also took the opportunity to meet with counterparts".
"The Singapore Ministry of Defence may facilitate some of these bilateral and multilateral meetings. Participants found that meetings held on the sidelines of the dialogue were useful," the spokesperson said.
The US Embassy in Singapore said it had no information about such a meeting. The Chinese and Indian governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are part of the Five Eyes network, which collects and shares intelligence widely and intelligence officials from these countries meet regularly.
Larger intelligence community meetings are rarer and most have never been made public.
A source said the secret intelligence conference in Singapore was held on the evening of June 1 and did not include Russia. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Volodymr V. Havrylov attended the Shangri-La Dialogue but said he did not attend the secret meeting. Another source said the atmosphere at the secret meeting was one of coordination and cooperation, not confrontation.
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