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CONFERENCE ON INTERACTION AND CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES IN ASIA
Official Name: The Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
Date of establishment: The initiative to convene the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) was put forward by President Nursultan Nazarbayev of newly independent Kazakhstan during his address at the 47th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on October 5, 1992.
Status: an intergovernmental forum for dialogue, consultations and adoption of decisions and measures on the basis of consensus on security issues in Asia, the observer at the UN (December 2007).
Main objective and thrust: enhancing co-operation through elaborating multilateral approaches towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.
Member States: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine, Republic of Korea, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.
Observers: Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Qatar, Vietnam, Ukraine and the USA (states); the United Nations, the OSCE and the League of Arab States (organizations).
Chairman-in-Office: Republic of Kazakhstan (2002-2006, the first term of office; re-elected for the second term of office for 2006-2010).
Structure and institutions of CICA:
Policy bodies: 1) Heads of State and Government Meeting (Summit - highest body, meets every 4 years), 2) Ministers of Foreign Affairs Meeting (Ministerial Meeting, meets every 4 years), 3) Senior Officials Committee (SOC, meets twice annually at least).
Supportive bodies: Special Working Groups (SWG)
Administrative body: Permanent International Secretariat in Almaty (Kazakhstan). CICA Executive Director Ambassador Dulat Bakishev (Kazakhstan), CICA Deputy Executive Director Mr. Korhan Karakoç (Turkey), professional staff (representatives of Kazakhstan, Russia, India, Iran and Pakistan).
Main meetings: I Ministerial Meeting (1999), First Summit (2002), II Ministerial Meeting (2004), Second Summit (2006), III Ministerial Meeting (2008).
Institutional documents: Declaration on the Principles Guiding Relations among the CICA Member States (adopted in 1999), Almaty Act (signed in 2002).
Basic documents: Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures (adopted in 2004), CICA Rules of Procedure (adopted in 2004), and Statute of the CICA Secretariat its appendix – Financial rules (signed in 2006 and ratified by RK in February, 2007, also ratified by Azerbaijan, Israel, India, China, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Pakistan). The Regulation onCICA Symbols, Cooperative approach for the implementation of the CICA CBMs, Guidelines for CICA’s External Relations (adopted in 2007), Host Country Agreement (signed in 2007, ratified by Kazakhstan in March, 2008).
Political declarations: Declaration on Eliminating Terrorism and Promoting Dialogue among Civilizations (2002), Declaration of the Second Ministerial Meeting (2004), Declaration of the Second Summit (2006), Declaration of the Third Ministerial Meeting (2008).
Language of the official documents: English.
Working languages: English & Russian.
Official holiday: the 5th of October (CICA Day).
Official website: www.s-cica.org
Historical view
The idea of convening the CICA was first proposed by H.E. Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, on 5 October 1992, at the 47th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. The moving spirit behind this initiative was the aspiration to set up an efficient and acceptable structure for ensuring peace and security in Asia. Unlike other regions in the world, Asia did not have such a structure at that time and earlier attempts to create a suitable structure had not been very successful.
From the very beginning the idea of convocation of CICA has found support of some the Asian states defining a political climate on continent, and the international organizations (the United Nations, OSCE, LAS). During of initiative realization in 1993-1994 Kazakhstan organized three meetings of the representatives of foreign ministries of Asian states interested in CICA. Following the results of the given meetings a Special Working Group (SWG) was established to make preparation for the meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of the states interested in convening the Conference.
Preparatory process. During the first phase of the evolution of CICA (1992 – 94), Kazakhstan organized three meetings of the representatives of foreign ministries of Asian states interested in CICA. The first meeting with 12 participants was held in April 1993; the second meeting with 28 participants was held in August-September 1993; and the third meeting with 29 participants was held in October 1994. The main achievement of the first phase was an agreement that discords existing in region could not be an obstacle to finding common approaches to the problems concerning security and cooperation among the states.
During the second phase (1995 – 99), a Special Working Group (SWG) was established to make preparation for the meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of the states interested in convening the Conference. The first meeting of the SWG took place in March 1995. Participating states were represented at the level of Ambassadors, and experts from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs. In the various sessions of the SWG during 1995-99 drafts of the basic CICA documents such as "The Rule of Procedures", "Declaration on the Principles", "CICA Structure and Institutes" were considered.
Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs of 23 Asian countries met in Almaty on February 7-8, 1996 to further elaborate on the basic principles and documents of CICA. The participants agreed that the development of CICA process needed long term joint efforts of all the interested states. On December 3, 1997 the second meeting of the Deputy Foreign Ministers of the interested states was held. Representatives from 27 countries and international organizations took part.
The international colloquium "Asian Security in the Context of Convening CICA", held in Almaty October 21-22, 1998, was an important moment in the development of CICA. The heads of leading scientific and research centers and institutions from 16 countries of Asia, Europe and the USA took part in the colloquium. The main goal of this event was to exchange opinions on all aspects of Asian security with an emphasis on pursuing the idea of creating a regional security system.
In January-February 1999, bilateral consultations were held in the capitals of some of the interested Member States. During these consultations, agreements were reached on the rapprochement of positions of the participants concerning several disputed provisions of the Declaration on Principles.
First Ministerial Meeting: The First Meeting of CICA Ministers of Foreign Affairs was held in Almaty on September 14, 1999.
The First Ministerial Meeting laid the foundation of CICA with the signing of the Declaration on Principles Guiding Relations between CICA Member States by the Ministers. The Ministers, while reaffirming commitment to the United Nations Charter, agreed that the Member States will respect each other’s sovereign equality; refrain from the threat or use of force; respect the territorial integrity of each other; settle disputes in accordance with the Declaration, UN Charter and international law; refrain from any intervention in the internal affairs of each other; reaffirm their commitment to the goal of achieving general and complete disarmament under effective control; enhance the process of economic, social and cultural cooperation; and respect human rights and fundamental freedoms of all individuals.
First Summit: The First CICA Summit was held in Almaty on June 4, 2002. with participation of the Heads of State/Government of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan; and Special Envoys of the Heads of State/Government of Egypt, Iran, Israel and Palestine. The Summit was also attended by the representatives of the Observer States and Organizations. At this meeting, the Almaty Act and CICA Declaration on Eliminating Terrorism and Promoting Dialogue among Civilizationswere adopted. The Within a short span of ten years after initiation of the idea,CICA became a full fledged functioning forum for dialogue and for seeking mutually acceptable measures for resolving problems and conflicts in the region.
Second Ministerial Meeting: The Second Meeting of CICA Ministers of Foreign Affairs was held in Almaty on October 22, 2004. At this meeting, CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs), CICA Rules of Procedure and Declaration of CICA Ministerial Meeting were adopted. Thailand was admitted as the seventeenth member of CICA
CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measuresbecame the most important document of the forum after Almaty Act. It was for the first time in the history of the Asian continent that there was such a comprehensive document envisaging multilateral cooperation among states on wide range of issues relating to stability and security. Within the framework of the Catalogue, the Confidence Building Measures were categorised into five basic dimensions, namely, economic; environmental; human; fight against new challenges and threats; and military-political. Under each category, specific measures for implementation were listed. The Member States agreed to implement the Confidence Building Measureson gradual and voluntary basis. It was also agreed that any Member State could select certain measures identified in the Catalogue for implementation, where feasible and appropriate.
CICA Rules of Procedure laid down ground rules for decision making, membership, observer status, chairmanship, types of meetings and procedure for conducting meetings. One of the most important aspects of the Rules of Procedure is that decisions and recommendations at all levels are taken by consensus. Consensus is reached in the absence of objection by any Member State at the stage of adoption of decisions and recommendations.
Declaration of the Second Ministerial Meeting included assessment of the situation at that time at the regional and global levels including Afghanistan, Iraq, Middle East, South Caucasus, and Korean peninsula. Member States once again condemned terrorism in all forms and manifestations and reiterated their commitment to fight this menace.
Second Summit: The Second CICA Summit was held in Almaty on June 17, 2006 with participation of the Heads of State/Government of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand and Uzbekistan and Special Envoys of the Heads of State/Government of Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Palestine and Turkey. Republic of Korea was admitted as the eighteenth member of CICA.
The Second Summit adopted the Statute of CICA Secretariat and Declaration of the Second CICA Summit. With the adoption of the Statute, CICA Secretariat was established with its seat in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Functions of the Secretariat specified in the Statute include: providing support for CICA meetings; maintenance of archive of CICA documents; acting as clearing house for the documents and information provided by the Member States; disseminating information on CICA; disseminating information on the implementation of CBMs among Member State; and performance of other tasks and duties assigned by the decision making bodies of CICA.
The Declaration of the Second CICA Summit reflected the general view of the Member States on key problems of security and cooperation in Asia and in other parts of the world.The Declaration also reiterated the desire of the Member States to continue the efforts to move forward CICA process to achieve its shared objectives; and noted with satisfaction the establishment of CICA Secretariat in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan as an important milestone in the evolution of CICA process.
Development of the Confidence Building Measures
At the Senior Officials Committee meeting (SOC), held in 12-14 March 2007 in Bangkok, a document «Cooperative Approach for the implementation of the CICA CBMs» was adopted. Thus the beginning phase of practical implementation of the CICA Catalogue of confidence building measuresand various projects aimed at strengthening cooperation in a multilateral format and specifying the individual directions of the CICA Catalogue.
22-23 December 2007 in Tehran, the First Specialized Expert Meeting (SEM) in the field of illicit drug trafficking was conducted, and in the period from 31 January to 1 February 2008 in Ankara was held CICA Experts Meeting on the Implementation of Confidence Building Measures in the Area of New Challenges and Threats. At these meetings the project of the Concept papers in the above-mentioned fields were elaborated.
6-7 May 2008 in Almaty, a regular meeting of the CICA Special Working Group (SWG) was held. Participants of the meeting discussed such issues as the implementation of the CICA Catalogue of CBMs, establishment of the CICA Secretariat and preparations for the 3rd Meeting of CICA Foreign Ministers.
June 11, 2008 in Seoul, a regular meeting of the CICA Senior Officials Committee (SOC) was held. The meeting was a continuation of the preliminary two-day SWG meetings.
September 27-28, 2008 in Dushanbe SEM for discussing the project of the Concept paper on the Cooperation among the CICA Member States in the field of tourism was held.
26-29 October, 2008 in Tel-Aviv was the CICA seminar on advanced agriculture was held, in which experts exchanged views and national experiences on common challenges, innovative technologies and effective methods of agriculture.
4-6 November 2008 in Almaty the CICA Meeting of Financial Experts was held.
Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan, as the coordinating body for the implementation of the CICA CBMs in human dimension, is implementing the Concept paper and the Action Plan for 2008-2009 in this dimension, under which, in 2008 on the territory of Kazakhstan two international conferences were held:
27 June 2008 in Almaty jointly with the Assembly of nations of Kazakhstan International Conference on Tolerance and inter-religious harmony as a blessing for Central Asia;
12 August 2008 in Astana in the Presidential Center of Culture of Kazakhstan international scientific-practical conference on the theme: «Intercultural interaction in the Central Asian countries».
The other Member-States as the coordinators of individual CBMs in economic, environmental dimensions, as well as new challenges and threats, developed the concept papers in their respective areas: the Republic of Korea - in the field of energy security, Tajikistan - in the field of tourism, Iran - in Combating Illicit Drug Production and Trafficking and Precursors, Russia - in the area of development of small and medium enterprises, Turkey - Action Plan for the implementation of CBMs in the field of new challenges and threats.
Third Ministerial Meeting: The Third Meeting of CICA Ministers of Foreign Affairs was held in Almaty on August 25, 2008, was attended by delegations of 19 Member States, 7 observer countries and 6 international and regional organizations. Just prior to the Ministerial Meeting Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and United Arab Emirate were formally admitted to CICA taking the membership to twenty. The State of Qatar was conferred the status of observer.
The Conclusions and Declaration of the Ministerial Meeting, titled CICA Progress in Implementation of CBMs were adopted at the Meeting.
The Ministers also adopted the Protocol Amending the Statute of the Secretariat of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia which provides for shifting of CICA Secretariat from Almaty to Astana.
The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan as the current CICA Chairman, welcoming the beginning of the implementation of confidence measures in the human, economic and environmental dimensions as well as in combating new challenges and threats, suggested to begin the practical work on developing and strengthening cooperation in the politico-military dimension, which in perspective should be one of the main directions of the CICA Catalogue of CBMs.
Further Development of the Confidence Building Measures
SOC Meeting on 20 February 2009 in New Delhi:Special working group (SWG) of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) held its regular meeting in New Delhi, India on 18-19 February 2009, followed by meeting of Senior Officials Committee (SOC) under the chairmanship of H.E. Mr. Nurlan Yermekbayev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan on 20 February 2009.
One of main issues on the agenda was consideration of implementation of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs). Kazakhstan and Turkey briefed the Member States about the proposed course of action for implementation of action plans in the areas of human dimension and new challenges and threats. Other coordinating countries informed about the course of action for adoption of concept papers and action plans for implementation of CBMs in the areas of development of secure and effective systems of transport corridors; illicit drug trafficking; information technology; energy security; and small and medium enterprise. SOC approved the Concept Paper on Cooperation among CICA Member States in the area of tourism. SOC also adopted a calendar of events for implementation of CBMs during 2009.
Mongolia confirmed its intention to act as the coordinating country for CBMs in environmental dimension.
It is known that the Kazakhstan’s mandate of the CICA Chairman expires in 2010. In this regard, at the Third Meeting of CICA Ministers of Foreign Affairs on August 25, 2008 the President of Kazakhstan N.Nazarbayev proposed to elect for this post one of the most active participants of the CICA - Republic of Turkey. This initiative was launched in view of the high-level relations between the two fraternal countries and taking into account the vast experience of the Turkish side in various international and regional associations.
In January 2009, following internal procedures, Ankara has expressed agreement with the proposal of Kazakhstan, which was announced in a message of President of the Republic of Turkey H.E. Mr. Abdullah Gül addressed to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan H.E. Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, as the CICA Chairman.
At SOC Meeting, held in New Delhi, Republic of Turkey announced its candidacy for Chairmanship of CICA in 2010 -2012, which was agreed with all Member States.
In accordance with the CICA Rules of Procedure, the next 3rd Summit of Heads of States and Governments of the CICA Member States will be held in 2010 in Turkey.
The implementation of the CICA Catalogue of CBMs also got a good dynamic.
If earlier in the CICA framework annually was hold only 2-3 specialized activities, in this year is planned to hold several different meetings, seminars and forums, in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Republic of Korea, Turkey, Iran and Israel. Thus, the current year becomes the «breakthrough» in the context of the further development of the Conference.
Kazakhstan was assigned to prepare the Chairman’s Draft Perception Paper on Confidence Building measures in Military-Political Dimension. Later on that basis will be elaborated document titled «The Cooperative Approach», which reflect shall the common position of all the Member States.
In the economic dimension the Concept paper on Cooperation among CICA Member States in the area of Tourism, prepared by Tajikistan was approved.
Kazakhstan as coordinator of the project for the implementation of CBMs in the human dimension distributed plan of activities for 2009 in the framework of the CICA Action Plan on CBMs in the humanitarian sphere.
Mongolia was adopted as the coordinator of the environmental dimension, and Turkey, as coordinating country in the field of new challenges and threats, announced its intention to hold in 2009 the meeting of police chiefs of the member countries.
The participants also discussed common issues of CICA activities. At the meeting the CICA Calendar of Events for 2009-2010 was adopted and analysis titled «The study of the CICA development» was approved.
On March 27, 2009 in Bishkek the CICA seminar titled «Dialogue of confessions - the way to stable society» was held.
On May 1, 2009 in Astana in the framework of the annual Festival of Friendship of People of Kazakhstan the Forum of ethnocultural associations of the people of the CICA countries was held.
On June 9, 2009 in Moscow the SEM for the implementation of CICA Catalogue of CBMs in the field of promoting business opportunities and information exchange in Development of Small and Medium Enterprises. During the meeting the draft Concept paper and Action plan for the 2009-2010 were discussed.
On June 23-24, 2009 the regular Meeting of the CICA Special Working Group (SWG) took place in Almaty. During the meeting, Member States considered the issues of realization of the CICA Catalogue of CBMs in the environmental, economic and military-political dimensions, the general issues related to CICA, as well as Issues related to CICA Secretariat.
In addition, the SWG accepted the request of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for observer status at CICA and submitted it for approval by SOC.
The Kingdom of Thailand, in its capacity as the ARF Chairman, expressed its willingness to share its views and experiences on implementation of CBMs in military-political and economic dimensions with the CICA Chairman.
Next meetings of the SWG and the SOC will be held in Beijing in October 2009.
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Thus, the participants take practical steps for implementation of the decisions of the Second Summit (2006) and the Third Ministerial Meeting (2008), as well as to prepare for the Third Summit, scheduled for 2010.
List of coordinating and co-coordinating countries for
implementing specific Confidence Building Measures
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S.No
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Specific CBM
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Coordinator
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Co-coordinator
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1
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Development of secure and effective systems of transportation corridors
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Azerbaijan
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India
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2
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Combating illicit drugs
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Iran
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Afghanistan
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3
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National disaster management
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Iran
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4
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Human dimension
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Kazakhstan
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Kyrgyzstan
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5
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Information Technology
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Republic of Korea
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6
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Energy security
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Republic of Korea
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India
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7
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Development of Small and Medium Enterprises
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Russia
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Thailand
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8
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Tourism
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Tajikistan
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9
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New challenges and threats
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Turkey
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Afghanistan
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10
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Environment
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Mongolia
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Kazakhstan
