The 4th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) was held on 20-21 May 2014 in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China.

12 Heads of State who attended and delivered speeches during the Summit included H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, H.E. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, H.E. Hassan Rouhani, President of Islamic Republic of Iran, H.E. Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Republic of Kazakhstan, H.E. Almazbek Atambayev, President of Kyrgyz Republic, H.E. Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, President of Mongolia, H.E. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, H.E. Emomalii Rahmon, President of the Republic of Tajikistan, H.E. Islam Karimov, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. H.E. Ahmet Davutoglu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, attended in his capacity as the Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Turkey, the Chairman of the 3rd Summit of CICA, who was unable to attend due to the tragic disaster at the mine in Soma. H.E. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, also made a speech at the Summit.

Prof. Savaş Alpay addressed the 4th CICA Summit on behalf of H.E. Iyad Ameen Madani, Secretary General of the OIC. In the address, he appreciated the effective leadership of the Republic of Turkey during their tenure and congratulated the People’s Republic of China for assuming the Chairmanship of the Conference for the period 2014-2018. It was stressed that the role assumed by CICA as a credible platform in enhancing cooperation on critical issues such as confidence building and security in the Asia region and beyond is very important.

Underlining the importance attached by the OIC to developing partnerships and cooperation activities with other regional and international organizations including the CICA, he highlighted that, with 17 mutual members, OIC and CICA shared some common issues of concern and interest on their respective agendas. The address concluded by reiterating the full support and commitment of the OIC for enhancing the level of cooperation with CICA.

This year’s Summit also welcomed the new membership of Bangladesh and Qatar, thereby increasing the total number of CICA Member Countries to 26, out of which 17 are also members of the OIC (namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Tajikistan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan). Nine countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia, and four international organisations hold observer status while Brunei and Kuwait also participated in the 4th CICA Summit.

CICA was established in 1992 as a pan-Asian dialogue forum for discussing key regional issues and developing cooperation between the participating countries. The idea of establishing CICA, as a multi-national forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia, was put forward by the President of Republic of Kazakhstan H.E. Nursultan Nazarbayev at the 47th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 1992.

CICA is now an effective forum for confidence building in the military, political, economic, environmental and humanitarian fields in Asia. It also counters new threats and challenges which pose threats to the entire region, such as proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, religious extremism, trans-border organised crime and piracy. CICA holds its summit once every four years. The 3rd CICA summit was held in 2010 in Istanbul under the hospitality of the Republic of Turkey.

The 4th Summit of CICA adopted a Declaration on “Enhancing Dialogue, Trust and Coordination for a New Asia of Peace, Stability and Cooperation”. In this Declaration, the Heads of the CICA Member States shared their common interests and security concerns and expressed their collective desire to carry forward the spirit of solidarity, cooperation and mutual assistance; respect each other's sovereignty; seek common development and progress; and stay committed to building a security environment in Asia based on confidence, mutual trust, good neighbourliness, partnership and cooperation among all States deeply rooted in the heart of the Asian people. They also expressed their respect for each other’s right to freely choose and develop their political, social, economic and cultural systems.

For more information, please visit: http://www.s-cica.org/

Documents

• Declaration on “Enhancing Dialogue, Trust and Coordination for a New Asia of Peace, Stability and Cooperation”  (English)