NUR-SULTAN, 12 October — The sixth ministerial meeting of the Conference in Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) started today (12 October) in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan.
The representatives of Member States and observers, heads of international observer organizations and partner-organizations attended the Meeting. 23 of the 27 States were represented by ministers or their deputies.
Ahead of the Ministerial Meeting, its participants were received by President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Opening the Ministerial meeting, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Akan Rakhmetullin read out a statement to the participants from the First President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The head of the Kazakh delegation emphasized, “today, after almost three decades, CICA is an effective forum for multilateral diplomacy.”
He added that in in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian countries are facing new challenges, including ensuring epidemiological, medical and food security. In this regard, the importance of the initiative to transform the CICA into a full-fledged international organization was emphasized, which would give a new important impetus to the political dialogue within the framework of the Conference, increase the effectiveness of the implementation of confidence-building measures in Asia, and address common challenges to global and regional security.
Following the event, the Ministers adopted the following important documents:
– Statement of the CICA Chairmanship. The document notes the importance of strengthening cooperation between the CICA countries to ensure security and peace in Asia, countering new challenges and threats, including in the field of epidemiological security, environmental protection and adaptation to climate change, sustainable economic development, promoting the digital economy, interconnection in the field transport and logistics, cultural dialogue, etc. Special attention is paid to the situation in Afghanistan. Transformation of the CICA Think Tank Forum into a permanent platform is welcomed;
– Updated CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures. The Catalogue adapted to modern realities includes such new priority areas of cooperation as epidemiological safety, public health and pharmaceuticals, information and communication technologies, and the fight against terrorism;
– Regulations on the CICA Council of Eminent Persons. The Council of Eminent Persons is supposed to be a consultative and advisory body of the CICA on a wide range of issues of interaction and development of the CICA, including the issues of strengthening peace and security, implementation of confidence-building measures, as well as further priorities within the CICA;
– Amendments to the CICA Rules of Procedure regarding the status of observers.
The participants agreed to continue active cooperation within the framework of the CICA and welcomed Kazakhstan’s proposal to host the 6th CICA Summit in 2022.
In addition, the participants took part in the inauguration of the new office of the CICA Secretariat in Nur-Sultan.
Beside hosting the meeting, Kazakhstan was elected as the organization’s chair in September 2020.
It clarified that its vision and priority for the chairman state for 2020-2022 is to work on the advancement of the organization and its institutionalization to expand the cooperation between member countries and strengthen the CICA’s global status.
On this year Kazakhstan proposed a new theme for its chairmanship “Partnership for Security and Development in Asia”. Kazakhstan aims to address all the ongoing crises in light of seeking peace, progress and prosperity in the region.
The idea to convene CICA was proposed by the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev at the 47th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1992. Since the 1st CICA Summit in 2002, the organization became an intergovernmental, multi-national forum for dialogue, consultations and adoption of decisions and measures on the basis of consensus on security issues in Asia.
The number of members have reached 27 Asian countries, 5 partner organizations along with 9 countries and 5 international organizations with observed statuses including Malaysia and Indonesia.
Recently on October 5th, CICA celebrated its 29th anniversary, becoming a dialogue platform for an honest exchange of views on problematic issues of international politics for different regions in Asia and the world.
Source: ASWAQ Press/Kazinform/Agencies
