Excellencies,
Distinguished colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,
At the outset, I would like to express my appreciation to the hosts of the Conference, the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure and its Director Ruslan Mirzaev personally, for the excellent organization of today's event and the opportunity to address this distinguished audience.
CICA and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization operate in the same region and have similar objectives and areas of cooperation. Suffice it to note that all SCO Member States are also CICA Member States.
Just like the SCO, CICA was initially created primarily to build confidence on the Asian continent. Just like the SCO, CICA has now developed into a mature multilateral structure for multifaceted cooperation that goes far beyond security issues and regional stability. However just like in the SCO, security issues continue to play a primary role in CICA.
Having said that, I am convinced that CICA and the SCO should not be seen as competing, but rather as complementary regional structures, whose concerted efforts can bear good fruit.
Not only similarities but also differences between the two regional formats are in favor of this approach. The SCO is a well-structured organization with great internal discipline and enforcement mechanisms. While CICA is a more flexible structure, where interaction is based on such basic principles as inclusiveness, strict consensus and voluntariness.
Strict adherence to these principles makes it possible to build and continue the dialogue even when it becomes difficult to implement it in other multilateral formats, involve in this dialogue participants who are willing to communicate solely within the CICA framework, because they might not have mutual diplomatic recognition. Today, CICA unites 28 Asian states with sometimes very different views on various issues on the international agenda, which does not prevent them from interacting and developing solutions effectively, focusing on what unites rather than divides them. This is the great value and unique feature of CICA that sets it apart from other organizations operating in the region.
Thus, I would say that the SCO is a kind of regional “core” in the vast Asian continent, while CICA can play an “outreach” role for the SCO. This provides ample opportunity for our bilateral cooperation.
CICA and the SCO have been partners since 2014, when the Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Secretariats of the two structures. The Protocol on Cooperation between the CICA Secretariat and the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure was signed in 2017.
The Protocol with the SCO RATS underscores the special importance CICA attaches to joint counterterrorism efforts. It is clear that in today's era of porous borders and rapid communications, no state can defeat this evil alone and be complacent while neighboring countries continue to suffer from manifestations of terrorism.
The basis for cooperation in CICA, along with basic, statutory documents such as the 1999 Declaration on the Principles and the 2002 Almaty Act, is the Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures, an updated version of which was adopted by the Member States at the Ministerial Meeting in the Kazakh capital last October.
This is a document, unique in the world history of diplomacy, in which the Member States agreed on joint approaches to interaction in order to build confidence based on the principle “proceed from the simple to the complex” – first establishing confidence, then building full cooperation that leads to greater mutual security, which, in turn, is the prerequisite for sustainable development.
Our Catalogue consists of five broad dimensions of interaction: military-political, new challenges and threats, economic, environmental, and human. In turn, one of the confidence building measures in the new challenges and threats dimension is combating terrorism. I would like to emphasize that this confidence building measure, like all the others included in the Catalogue, is adopted and supported by all twenty-eight CICA Member States.
And interaction under this confidence building measure is developing very actively. I would like to share with you some very positive news in this regard. Just a little less than a month ago, the CICA countries made very significant progress in this respect.
The Sixth CICA Summit held in Astana on 12-13 October adopted two very important documents. These are the CICA Plan of Action on the Implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the CICA Leaders’ Statement on Cooperation in the Field of Security of and in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies.
The decision to develop the CICA Plan of Action on the Implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy was taken back in 2012. The process was not an easy one; there were many opinions, suggestions and initiatives. The updated draft was developed by the Kazakh Chairmanship in late 2021 and was agreed upon and adopted by the Summit in less than a year.
The Plan is consistent with the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy adopted by the UN General Assembly on 8 September 2006, and with the structure of the GCTS Plan of Action. The CICA Plan of Action not only confirms the intention of the Member States to take the necessary measures at the national level to implement the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, but also provides a framework for cooperation to address the scourge of terrorism through effective and concerted action in specific areas of cooperation in accordance with the four “pillars” of the GCTS.
The updated CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures included a new priority area in 2021, “Security of and in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies.” Russia and China, which coordinate this area of activity in CICA, initiated a draft Statement on ICT security supported by all CICA members.
The Statement notes the increased role of ICTs in all areas of human life and the risks of misuse of ICT developments both for criminal and terrorist purposes, as well as in maintaining security, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world. It underscores the willingness of the CICA countries to converge approaches to ensuring ICT security, develop cooperation in this area based on universally recognized principles of international law, primarily the UN Charter. The Statement gives political impetus to practical cooperation among CICA states in this new priority area of confidence building measures.
We know that the SCO was one of the first regional organizations in which the issue of information and cyber security was broadly developed and internationally legalized, which, by the way, is not the case at the global level today. We are well aware of the role of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure in strengthening cooperation among Central Asian states in implementing the UNGCTS through the regional Plan of Action, which was adopted back in 2011 and propelled the Central Asian region to the top in this regard on a global scale.
We see here the widest field for cooperation between CICA and the SCO, CICA and the SCO RATS on counterterrorism and the closely related topic of ICT security. We look forward to close interaction in the near future and are open to suggestions.
CICA, which has marked its 30th anniversary this year as a unique regional initiative, is embarking on the process of its transformation into a full-fledged international organization. This transformation was launched at the Summit in Astana on 13 October with the adoption of the Astana Statement. Completion of the legal formalization of our Conference's transformation into the international organization that it de facto already is today will open up new, broader opportunities for cooperation with other regional and international organizations. We are always open to such cooperation.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
In conclusion, I would like to wish all participants a successful Conference, as well as good health, well-being, and prosperity.
Thank you for your attention.
