600 officers from 49 countries, why the group of spies gathered in Singapore? RAW officials were also present

Nearly two dozen senior officials from the world’s major intelligence agencies have held a secret meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore this weekend. He noted that such meetings are organized by the Singapore government and have been held at a different location with the Security Summit for many years. The meetings were not informed in advance. The US was represented by the head of her country’s intelligence community, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, while China was among the other countries present despite tensions between the two superpowers.

An Indian source said Samant Goel, head of the Research and Analysis Wing, India’s foreign intelligence-gathering agency, also attended. A person with knowledge of the discussions said the meeting is a key fixture on the international shadow agenda. Given the range of countries involved, this is not a tradecraft, but a way to foster a deeper understanding of intentions and bottom lines. There is an unspoken code between intelligence services that they can talk about when more formal and open diplomacy is difficult – this is a very important factor in times of tension and the Singapore incident helps to foster this.

All five sources who discussed the meetings declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. A spokesperson for the Singapore Defense Ministry said participants, including senior officials from intelligence agencies, also get an opportunity to meet their counterparts while attending the Shangri-La talks.