HALIFAX, Canada: At the invitation of the organisers, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay attended the Halifax International Security Forum from 18 – 20 November. The Halifax International Security Forum is North America’s leading foreign affairs and defense conference. It was also the first major meeting of top political and military leaders after the 2016 US elections.
At the forum, Sikyong participated in the panel discussion ‘Power Corrupts, Corruption Corrodes’ with Dr Leila Alieva, Academic Visitor, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, Ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield, Chairman, Stimson Center and Mayor David Smolansky, Mayor, El Hatillo Municipality, Venezuela. The event was hosted by Mr. Dixon Osburn, Executive Director, Center for Justice and Accountability.
Sikyong also spoke on ‘women and the importance of being inclusive’ and ‘Climate Security, Energy Security and the Politics of Slow Moving Threats’. He raised the importance of Tibetan plateau as the water tower of Asia, affecting billions of lives in downstream countries.
The Forum was organised by Canada’s Ministry of National Defense led by the Honourable Harjit Sajjan and attended by a host of international leaders including Sir Michael Fallon, UK Secretary of State for Defense, Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s Minister of Defence, Ömer Çelik, Turkey’s Minister for European Union Affairs, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Ukranian Deputy Prime Minister Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Estonian Defense Minister Hannes Hanso, and Ms. Rose Gottemoeller, NATO Deputy Secretary General.
A bipartisan US Congressional Delegation led by Senator John McCain also took part in the three-day forum.
The forum deliberated on a wide range of issues and topics from ‘ISIS in Africa’, ‘the Obstacles to Democracy in Ukraine’, ‘Security in the Af-Pak region’, to global terrorism and the Realignment of power structures in the Middle East.
On the sidelines of the forum, Sikyong was also interviewed on Tibet by Ms Jeanne Meserve (formerly CNN). During the interview, Sikyong discussed the issue of Tibet focusing on the political, cultural and the environmental aspects and called for an immediate resolution of the Tibet issue.
Halifax International Security Forum is a non-profit, non-partisan organisation based in Washington, D.C. It brings together informed leaders and engaged decision-makers from governments, military, business, academia, and the media to consider international security threats and build democracy, creating opportunity and promoting peace.
