Foreign ministers of 20 Member countries of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) met in AlmaAta, Kazakhstan on Monday to strengthen pan Asian cooperation on security issues plaguing the region. The CICA includes Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Egypt, Iran, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, South Korea, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Jordan and the United Emirates. Indonesia, Japan, the United States, Vietnam, the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Arab League are observer countries /organizations to the CICA.
Spearheaded by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the CICA plans to unify Asia through an effective mechanism for safeguarding security in Asia and promoting cooperation in the region, Xinhua News Agency reported. Speaking in the city closely associated with Silk Road, “No other regional organization covers so much of territory. We see CICA as contributing to the struggle against terrorism through building of CBMs. These would reduce tensions and misgivings, thus providing less ground for terrorism, he said.
Recently, SAARC, the South Asian Association also called for a unified fight against terrorism. A draft summit declaration called for collective action to combat “all forms of terrorist violence” that was threatening their “peace, stability and security.”
India would host the next round of CICA senior-level meetings in February next.
