Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will attend this year¡¯s IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore ¡ª a major international security forum ¡ª as the keynote speaker, The Japan Times has learned.

Sources familiar with the event confirmed his participation Thursday in the 19th iteration of the summit, marking the first time a Japanese prime minister will attend since Shinzo Abe¡¯s appearance in 2014. The summit will be held from June 10 to 12.

In his keynote address, the prime minister, who was recently on a diplomatic tour of Europe and Southeast Asia, is expected to condemn Russia¡¯s invasion of Ukraine as a violation of international law and call for increased international cooperation to counter any unilateral attempts to change the status quo using force, especially in the Indo-Pacific region.

During a May 5 meeting in London with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Kishida warned that the invasion of Ukraine could be replicated in East Asia if democratic powers do not stand up to autocratic ones.

¡°Ukraine may be East Asia tomorrow. ... Russia¡¯s aggression is not an issue only for Europe. The international order encompassing the Indo-Pacific is at stake,¡± Kishida said amid growing concerns in Tokyo about China¡¯s increased assertiveness in the East and South China Seas.

The concerns are also related to Chinese actions near democratic Taiwan, as Beijing intensifies aerial and naval exercises around the self-ruled island. China, which continues to rapidly modernize the People¡¯s Liberation Army and enhance its amphibious assault capabilities, has repeatedly vowed to reunite Taiwan with the mainland, by force, if necessary.

This year¡¯s iteration of the annual event, which will take place after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is particularly significant as it will be held amid growing Sino-U.S. competition in the region, a rise in Asian military spending, heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and what Tokyo has described as an ¡°increasingly severe¡± security situation around Japan.

Also known as the Asia Security Summit, the conference will be attended by defense ministers and military-related personnel mainly from the Asia-Pacific region to discuss cooperation and the most pressing security challenges in the region.

It will also feature plenary debates on several topics, including the next steps for the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy, China¡¯s vision for regional order, developing new forms of security cooperation, managing geopolitical competition in a multipolar region, the situation in Myanmar, common challenges for Asia-Pacific and European defense, as well as climate security and ¡°green defense.¡±