Pacific Intelligence Leaders Gather in Fiji to Strengthen Trust and Cooperation

NADI, Fiji — Senior military intelligence leaders from 20 nations gathered in Fiji for the 19th Annual Indo-Pacific Intelligence Chiefs Conference (IPICC), bringing together senior leaders to strengthen relationships, exchange perspectives and explore ways to address shared security challenges across the region.

Hosted by Lt. Col. Esira Kulavati, Director of Military Intelligence (DMI), Republic of Fiji Military Forces, and co-host Rear Adm. Jeffrey Buschmann, Director for Intelligence, U.S. Pacific Command, this year's conference centered on the theme, “Collective Insight, Collective Security: Deepening Indo-Pacific Intelligence Cooperation Through Trust and Partnership.”

For Buschmann, the value of IPICC extends beyond the formal discussions taking place during the conference. He described the event as a flagship forum where partners and allies can come together around a shared strategic purpose.

“IPICC serves as a flagship forum for our key partners and allies to convene in pursuit of a shared strategic purpose,” Buschmann said. “It provides an important platform for the DMI’s from each of the respective countries across the Indo-Pacific and beyond to identify and elevate critical challenges that have implications for collective and global security.”

The conference also provides an opportunity for senior intelligence leaders to move from identifying challenges to developing potential solutions together.

“Equally important, IPICC brings together the PACOM Theater’s senior intelligence leaders to collaboratively develop actionable solutions to these challenges,” Buschmann said. “Through this dialogue and partnership, IPICC strengthens intelligence cooperation, advances shared understanding, and contributes to a more secure, stable and resilient Indo-Pacific.”

For Lt. Gen. James H. Adams, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the face-to-face relationships developed through engagements like IPICC are fundamental to effective intelligence sharing.

“Having Indo-Pacific intelligence leaders together builds the trust and personal relationships that underpin effective intelligence sharing,” Adams said. “In my experience, face-to-face engagement enables more candid conversations, better appreciation of nations’ perspectives, and the confidence to address difficult challenges together, something virtual meetings rarely replicate.”

Adams said those relationships can become particularly important when a crisis requires partners to act quickly.

“In a crisis, the strength of those relationships can determine whether intelligence is merely exchanged or acted upon in time to matter,” Adams said.

For Buschmann, building those relationships requires more than simply gathering leaders in the same room. It requires listening to the different security concerns and priorities represented across the region.

“What I would like to see is a deeper and more enduring level of cooperation, transparency, and trust among our partners and allies,” Buschmann said.

He emphasized the importance of understanding the perspectives of partners throughout the region, particularly when determining how nations can work together to address shared challenges.

“It is essential that each of us [DMIs] listen to, and understand, the distinct security concerns, priorities, and perspectives across the theater,” Buschmann said. “Doing so will enable us to more effectively assess where and how the U.S. can best support our partners, strengthen collective security, and advance shared interests throughout the area of responsibilities.”

The conference's bilateral and small-group engagements also provided opportunities for participants to discuss national challenges and priorities in a more direct setting.

“These conversations are essential to building mutual understanding, identifying areas of common purpose, and developing collaborative solutions that address shared security challenges,” Buschmann said.

Those conversations are intended to extend beyond the conference itself. Adams said continued progress will require the intelligence community to turn relationships and dialogue into practical capabilities.

“Looking beyond this year’s conference, the priority should be building resiliency and interoperability, grounded in trust but reinforced through consistent action,” Adams said. “That means improving information sharing, aligning standards and processes, and strengthening secure communications so we understand not only what we can share, but how quickly and effectively we can act on it.”

While conferences can establish connections, the relationships developed through those interactions can become particularly important when nations face a crisis or emerging security challenge.

Buschmann said IPICC creates an environment where senior intelligence leaders can engage openly and candidly about their respective concerns, challenges and priorities.

“IPICC provides a unique forum for senior intelligence leaders and Directors to engage with one another openly and candidly,” Buschmann said. “By fostering an environment of transparency and collaboration, IPICC creates a true ‘meeting of the minds’, bringing together diverse perspectives, institutional knowledge, and operational experiences to better understand complex challenges and collectively develop meaningful solutions.”

That exchange of perspectives is central to this year’s conference theme.

“Addressing the increasingly complex security challenges facing the Indo-Pacific and, by extension, the broader global community, requires sustained dialogue, shared understanding, and genuine partnership,” Buschmann said.

For Buschmann, face-to-face engagement remains an important part of building that foundation.

“What better way to advance that objective than through direct, face-to-face engagement among the leaders responsible for understanding and addressing these challenges,” Buschmann said.

Adams said the next step is ensuring the relationships established through these engagements translate into sustained progress.

“We should also turn dialogue into measurable progress: establish shared priorities, set realistic milestones, and review them at each subsequent engagement,” Adams said. “Trust is built over time by delivering on commitments.”

That approach reflects the broader purpose of IPICC: creating an enduring network capable of sharing information, understanding regional perspectives and coordinating responses to challenges that extend beyond any one nation.

“The Indo-Pacific intelligence coalition will be strongest when our relationships, systems, and habits are sufficiently mature that we can move from shared awareness to coordinated action, quickly, confidently and together,” Adams said.

Buschmann said the conference provides the environment needed to continue building toward that objective.

“IPICC provides precisely that opportunity: a trusted environment where partners can exchange insights, challenge assumptions, identify common interests, and work collaboratively toward solutions that strengthen collective security,” Buschmann said.

As the conference concluded, participating nations expressed appreciation for Fiji’s efforts in hosting the 19th IPICC and creating an environment that supported open dialogue, professional exchange and relationship-building.

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