Distinguished Chair,
Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to participate in this session and to address this representative audience.
The issues raised for discussion at the forum, including at the current session, are certainly relevant, pressing and generate interest around the world, to say the least. Politicians, governments, and the world's largest think tanks are struggling to solve them. I think that the discussions at our forum can make a positive contribution that can be put to practical use.
Geopolitics and geoeconomics manifest themselves in multiple dimensions and give rise to competition, conflicts and cooperation, all unfolding at the same time. Unfortunately, these processes in our era are not unfolding in the most favourable direction, the growing rivalry of global forces leads to an increase in the number and intensity of conflicts on the planet.
All the more encouraging are the examples of confidence building measures and genuine cooperation leading to the strengthening of the security and well-being of peoples. Fortunately, there are many such encouraging examples today.
Asia is a diverse region in terms of concentration of peoples, natural resources, ancient history, rich civilizations, culture, etc. Asia has also traditionally been the object of global and regional power games.
That being said, Asia has great potential for resolving differences between countries and improving the quality of interstate relations. To achieve this goal, international regional organizations can be an important element in maintaining peace, security, stability and prosperity in the region.
The Greater Asia already has several multinational blocs, including the Arab League, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation with its Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, Collective Security Treaty Organisation, Organization of Turkic States, ASEAN and others.
However, I dare say that the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia holds a special place among them.
Today, CICA has 28 Member States covering 90 per cent of Asia and representing half of the world's population. CICA is the only pan-Asian organization that covers a vast territory from the Pacific Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and from the Urals to the Indian Ocean.
CICA is a unique consensus-based multilateral platform to enhance cooperation for promoting peace, security and stability in Asia. As a multilateral platform, CICA provides equal opportunities for its members with different political, economic and socio-cultural backgrounds to jointly discuss ideas, share knowledge and best practices, collaborate on useful initiatives and make decisions based on mutual consent.
I would like to highlight the unique nature of CICA, where large, small, medium and very large states participate on a truly equal footing. We have no blocs, there is and can be no pressure of the stronger ones on those who are weaker.
Our 28-nation forum is a flexible structure guided by such fundamental principles as inclusiveness, strict consensus, and voluntariness. CICA countries have, at times, vastly differing perspectives on certain issues on the international agenda. However, strict adherence to the mentioned principles allows them to interact effectively and develop solutions by focusing not on what divides them but on what unites them.
CICA brings around the same table states that sometimes have no diplomatic relations with each other or even mutual diplomatic recognition. This is the great value and unique feature of CICA setting it apart from other organizations that operate in the region.
The roots of this uniqueness must be sought in the 30-year history of the Conference.
The idea of establishing CICA was proposed by former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on 5 October 1992 at the 47th session of the UN General Assembly. As is known, Kazakhstan ranks 9th in the world in terms of territory, but only 62nd in terms of population. It is clear that this initiative could only be supported and implemented wilfully and voluntarily.
Having said that, this seed fell upon fertile ground, because the need for such a structure was long overdue. Major powers put forward a number of initiatives for Asian integration, but it was this factor that became an obstacle. The dismantling of the bipolar world has dramatically increased the potential of medium and small countries, which have realized that they are capable of playing a prominent role in global and regional affairs if they join hands. Today, this process is observed all over the planet, but it is in Asia where it is most visible.
The backbone 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.
It 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 by upholding the “simple-to-complex” principle – first establishing confidence, then, on this basis, 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. Today about 60% of the total cooperation activity in CICA is focused on economic issues, which are closely related to the environment, social development and humanitarian cooperation.
Objectively speaking, the implementation of all five dimensions of interaction leads to stronger security for the Member States, since cooperation and sustainable development are the basis of security and social stability.
I would especially like to note that while a number of regional structures around the globe are facing problems of new goal-setting in a changing world, stagnation and even crisis of further development, CICA continues to grow, actively evolve and try to meet the challenges of the time. This was evidenced by the unanimous decision of the Member States adopted last October in Astana at the Sixth Summit on the gradual transformation of CICA into a full-fledged international organization.
I am sure that in the future CICA will definitely take a prominent place in the comprehensive security architecture of the Asian continent and the world. CICA will further contribute to the consolidation of the common vision of Asian states and their connectivity.
Central Asia, without exaggeration, is the heart of CICA. A quick look at the map would tell you that the entire perimeter of the Central Asian region is surrounded exclusively by the CICA Member States. At the same time, of the five Central Asian states, four are members of CICA, and one – Turkmenistan – has observer status. Given these facts, it is clear that CICA has a special role to play for Central Asia and vice versa – the states of the region are interested in the success of CICA.
The Central Asian region, despite its internal diversity, is bound by centuries-old traditions of economic, social and cultural interaction. Our region demonstrates a high level of connectivity in comparison with the nearest geography.
Over the past few years, we have seen an increase in the level of association of Central Asia in the regional and global arena. The countries of the region strive to unite their efforts in order to adequately respond to emerging challenges and threats. In previous decades, we have seen the involvement of Central Asian countries in various regional organizations with external participants, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Organization of Turkic States, and this process continues.
But at the same time, interaction in a five-sided format is being reinvigorated. The most striking example is the format of consultative meetings of the Central Asian presidents. The regional association of Central Asia is particularly evident in the traditional dialogue format of “Central Asia plus China”, “plus the US”, “plus the EU”, “plus Japan”, “plus Korea”. The countries of the region are becoming more aware of their common needs and are trying to address them together.
One of the states that have a significant impact on the security of Central Asia is Afghanistan. Although the country remains a full member of CICA, at present the Afghan delegation does not participate in CICA events; at the same time, Afghanistan retains its place as a participant. We very much hope for the resumption of Afghanistan’s activity in CICA in the near future.
It is important for CICA and Central Asian countries to make sure that the terrorist threat does not originate from the territory of Afghanistan, and that this country does not become a safe haven for terrorists. The priority area of Combating Terrorism is an important part of the New Challenges and Threats dimension under the Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures. And a lot is being done within CICA in this direction.
The Sixth CICA Summit held in Astana on 12-13 October 2022 adopted a very important document - the CICA Plan of Action on the Implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. I would venture to say that this Plan, following the Joint Plan of Action on the GCTS for Central Asia adopted in 2011, has become the highest-profile regional document of its kind in one of the most complex regions of the world. In the future, CICA plans to conduct reviews of the implementation of this Plan of Action on a regular basis.
On 19 April 2023, members of the CICA Senior Officials Committee conducted a review of the implementation of the New Challenges and Threats dimension, sharing information on measures taken at the national and multilateral levels.
CICA regularly conducts workshops and trainings on countering terrorism and extremism, drug trafficking, various forms of cross-border crime, and human trafficking. The countries voluntarily exchange best practices in these areas, which makes a significant contribution to strengthening national and regional security. Just this year, a seminar on countering radicalization was held by India. The Republic of Türkiye regularly organizes courses and seminars for law enforcement officers of the CICA Member States on countering terrorism, drug trafficking and crime.
Your Excellencies, dear colleagues,
I am sure that the future of international security lies in multilateral diplomacy. Only the strengthening of genuine multilateralism based on confidence building measures can provide an adequate response to the challenges of our time and show the transition from competition to cooperation.
Thank you.
Astana, 13 July 2023
