India to voice terrorism at third summit of CICA
Almaty (Kazakhstan), Aug 25: With the upcoming Third Summit Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), Indian delegation is likely to raise its opinion on the ever growing threat of terrorism and trans-national crimes, and seek to convince the representatives of 17 other participating Asian countries to come up with firm proposals to counter this menace. Simultaneously, it may also dwell on the regional development initiatives and achievements under CICA's aegis.
To
be
inaugurated
by
Kazakh
President
Nursultan
Nazabayev
on
Monday,
Aug
25
morning
and
attended
by
the
Foreign
Ministers
or
Deputy
Foreign
Ministers
of
18
countries,
the
conference
is
expected
to
come
up
with
the
next
steps
in
a
collaborative
multilateral
approach
to
all
issues
affecting
Asia,
including
numerous
traditional
security
challenges
that
threaten
not
only
economic
gain,
but
also
the
peace
and
stability
of
this
diverse
region.
Besides,
a
number
of
non-traditional
security
challenges,
commonly
referred
to
as
'New
Threats
and
Challenges' such
as
terrorism,
trans-national
crime,
environmental
degradation,
infectious
diseases,
human
trafficking,
drugs
and
arms
trade
are
also
likely
to
be
addressed.
Having been a victim of recent terror strikes in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, India may emphasize that in order to accomplish the ultimate goal of making Asia a region of peace and security, it would be necessary to make CICA more pro-active in seeking cooperation with other Asian regional and sub-regional organizations and forums.
CICA is one of the youngest and most diverse of regional groupings. Conceived 16 years ago, it had its first Summit meeting on June 4, 2002. At the second Summit meeting on June 17, 2006, the CICA Secretariat was created and was charged with the responsibility of implementing decisions taken jointly by the 18 member states.
It was then also decided to carry forward the CICA process in dealing with non-traditional security challenges, promoting trade, ensuring environmental protection, energy security, education and tourism.
The daylong conference is expected to assess the progress made on the five dimensions for the realization of CICA CBMs i.e. (1) Military-Political (2) Fight against new challenges and threats (3) Economic (4) Environmental and (5) Humanitarian.
At the last Summit meeting, India was among eight member states (the others being Azerbaijan, Iran,, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Russia, Tajikistan and Turkey) to volunteer to act as coordinating and co-coordinating countries to have the CICA CBMS realized as soon as possible. Expert committees of some of the above eight countries have in the last year come up concept papers and action plans for issues like drug trafficking, new threats and challenges, both which are likely to be adopted at the Third Summit meeting.
A significant aspect of the meeting will be the formal admission of two new CICA members - the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, taking the total membership to twenty.
Almaty will also be playing host to the first conference on security and cooperation in Central Asia-Caspian region, under the aegis of the Institute of World Economy and Politics and the Kazakh Foreign Ministry. India will be represented at this forum by Ambassador P.S. Sahai, Principal Advisor, Centre for Caucasian and Central Asian Study, Chandigarh.
It is expected that this forum will make an analysis of the global and Asian Security system, and seek ways to broaden interaction and cooperation in all regional and bilateral spheres. By Ashok Dixit
ANI