More than 850 delegates attended the international conclave held for the seventh time. The delegates include defence ministers, military heads, experts, academics and heads of international organizations. This year the talks were centered on the main topic "Middle East outlook after eradication of ISIS in Syria".

The Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation General of the Army Sergei Shoigu opened the conference. The Moscow Conference on International Security is an annual event held since 2012 under the auspices of the Russian Ministry of Defence.

In his address on "Asia: Regional Security Aspects", Secretary Waidyaratne spoke on some of the key security concerns in the South Asian region with an emphasis on the changing maritime security landscape of the Indian Ocean Region, against the backdrop of global security trend