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17 countries, including Singapore, launch framework to protect critical underwater infrastructure

At the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 30, 2026, seventeen countries from Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, and Southeast Asia launched GUIDE (the Guiding Principles for Underwater Infrastructure Defence Exchanges) to protect critical underwater infrastructure including subsea telecommunications cables and energy pipelines. 

Singapore's Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing emphasized that countries must collaborate to establish international norms for building, maintaining, and protecting infrastructure while addressing those causing harm. The voluntary framework is non-legally and non-financially binding, creating no new legal obligations under international law. 

Endorsing nations include Australia, Brunei, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. GUIDE reflects cross-regional cooperation on security challenges transcending geographical boundaries, demonstrating that geography isn't a barrier to flexible, issue-based collaboration. 

Chan highlighted that waterways now contain critical infrastructure connecting energy and telecommunications grids, noting that "any attack on one part of the network is an attack on the entire network." Subsea cables carry over 95 percent of global internet and data traffic, while recent cable damage incidents have underscored vulnerabilities and response difficulties outside territorial waters. 

Potential cooperation areas include inter-regional information-sharing early warnings, expert exchanges on infrastructure security, and point-of-contact exchanges for incident response. The broader international community can participate, and Singapore looks forward to developing follow-on initiatives. 

Earlier, Chan and Philippines Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. co-hosted an ASEAN defence ministers' breakfast, where leaders reaffirmed commitment to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), international law, and keeping shipping lanes like the Straits of Malacca open for free trade flow. Discussions covered joint training for humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and managing relations with major powers while maintaining regional security. 

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