Jed (Jedidiah P.) Royal is a career Senior Executive Service official in the U.S. Defense Department serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo‑Pacific Security Affairs. His background includes roles as Deputy Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Director of Defense Policy and Plans at the U.S. Mission to NATO, various policy posts in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (including Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia), a White House NSC detail as Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan (2013–2015), and an exchange assignment as Director of Strategic Advice in Australia’s Department of Defense. He holds an MPhil from the University of New South Wales and a BA in International Affairs from George Washington University.
The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indo‑Pacific Security Affairs (PDASD/PDASW) is the senior deputy to the Assistant Secretary responsible for supervising the Indo‑Pacific Security Affairs portfolio—overseeing policy and strategy on China, Taiwan, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and related security cooperation; coordinating DoD activities with U.S. foreign policy and regional partners; and managing defense‑policy, planning, and security cooperation work for the region.
The Shangri‑La Sherpa Dialogue is a preparatory, senior‑official track associated with the broader Shangri‑La Dialogue security forum. It brings together defense and foreign‑policy officials (Sherpas) from governments and multilateral organizations to plan and coordinate participation and agendas for the Shangri‑La process; the broader Shangri‑La Dialogue is hosted annually by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore.
Sherpa and Shangri‑La meetings typically cover regional security, defense cooperation, crisis deterrence and stability, maritime security (including South China Sea), arms control and non‑proliferation, crisis management, alliance interoperability, defense capacity‑building, and challenges posed by major‑power competition in the Indo‑Pacific.
No. The Department of War readout published Jan. 23, 2026 provided a brief summary of Jed Royal’s attendance at the Shangri‑La Sherpa dialogue but did not list specific agreements, commitments, or concrete follow‑up actions in that release.
The readout lists participation at the Shangri‑La Sherpa dialogue but does not name specific bilateral meetings or a roster of U.S. or regional officials he met; publicly available readouts from the Department do not detail additional meeting partners for this trip.
The full official readout is posted on the Department of War website at the URL given in the article: https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4387421/readout-of-principal-deputy-assistant-secretary-for-indo-pacific-security-affai/. For broader detail on Shangri‑La events and agendas see the IISS Shangri‑La Dialogue pages and U.S. PACOM or DoD press releases that publish longer readouts or transcripts.