Top Shangri-La Dialogue 2026 quotes: defense, multilateralism, Asia

Allies who refuse to step up and carry their own weight for our collective defense will face a clear shift in how we do business.

— Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of Defense

You have a choice, you’re either on the menu or you’re having a seat at the table, and if you don’t step up with your defense spending, make sure that you are also delivering, then you will be on the menu, and I don’t want the Dutch, the Netherlands be on the menu, I want to have a voice at the table.

— Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius, Netherlands Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister

The Philippines is dead set on building its own resilience by increased defense spending by gearing up for acquiring greater capabilities, more lethal deterrence capabilities, building deterrence, and at the same time broadening its alliances.

— Gilberto Teodoro, Philippines National Defence Secretary

The more powerful we are, the more effort we need to spend to reassure others, because ultimately in the defense sector people look at not just capabilities, people look at intention.

— Chan Chun Sing, Singapore Defence Minister

Defense is an important part of maintaining our sovereignty individually as countries, and having the ability to get together to complement each other’s capabilities is incredibly important. No one country can do it all alone.

— General Jennie Carignan, Chief of the Defense Staff of Canada