The United States endorsed the initiative to strengthen defence industrial base resilience in the Indo-Pacific at the event. “As party in the format, Lithuania will cooperate with our like-minded partners to strengthen the resilience of defence industry,” underscored Minister of National Defence.
L. Kasčiūnas also met with Indo-Pacific Defence Ministers and their representatives bilaterally to discuss security challenges and relevant aspects of defence cooperation. Minister also took part in the talks with President of the Philippines Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. together with the delegation of Prime Minister I. Šimonytė.
In the Indo-Pacific, Lithuania has a strategic partnership with Japan. There are also ongoing talks and practical contacts are consistently developed with Singapore, Australia, Republic of Korea. The Ministry of National Defence has launched another dialogue in the region with New Zealand as well, while Ministers of Defence of Lithuania and the Philippines met for the first time in Shangri-la Dialogue 2024. The main areas of cooperation with the Indo-Pacific are cyber security, total defence, public resilience, countering disinformation and hybrid threats.
“We understand that security in the Indo-Pacific can have direct security implications to the Euro-Atlantic area. We are ready to and have to discussions with our like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific to withstand the pressure from the aggressors, to strengthen each others’ capabilities and protect principles of international law,” said L. Kasčiūnas.
In the bilateral meeting with Minister of Defence of Japan Minoru Kihara L. Kasčiūnas discussed assistance to Ukraine and thanked Japan for joining the Ukraine Demining Coalition of 22 countries that Lithuania coordinates together with Iceland. Minister L. Kasčiūnas also discussed assistance to Ukraine with Ministers of Defence or their representatives of New Zealand, Australia, Republic of Korea, the Philippines and Singapore. He underscored that assistance to Ukraine was a priority to Lithuania and invited the Indo-Pacific countries to find a suitable format and contribute to the objectives of the Ukraine Demining Coalition.
Other areas discussed at Shangri-la Dialogue 2024 were cyber security and defence. L. Kasčiūnas invited his colleagues to join the Regional Cyber Defence Centre in Lithuania as Lithuania is looking to expand cyber security cooperation with the Ind-Pacific countries and it could be the principal platform for such partnership. L. Kasčiūnas also invited cyber security experts from the Indo-Pacific countries to take part in Cyber Security Exercise Amber Mist 2024 in Lithuania this fall. “The whole world is facing threats to critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure security is a vital aspect of national security which Lithuania focuses heavily on. Exercises are a great opportunity for international cooperation and exchange of experience and insights between different regions,” Minister said.
According to L. Kasčiūnas, another area Lithuania is interested in strengthening is military cooperation with the Indo-Pacific. “The easiest way to start the first military contacts is exchanging exercise observers,” stated L. Kasčiūnas in the meetings. This was the point Minister underscored meeting with Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Samuel Paparo. L. Kasčiūnas noted that Lithuania’s priority was to act in coordination with the United States. He also presented the mandate passed by the Parliament on the Republic of Lithuania in late 20223 for Lithuanian military personnel to be deployed to international efforts in the Indo-Pacific.
