Daily Times

Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building in Asia (CICA) turned twenty five this year. It was promoted by Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Kazakhstan, at the UN General Assembly in 1992. At that time, the world situation was undergoing great changes — the collapse of the Soviet Union, drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the conclusion of the Cold War. Against this backdrop, the world was discussing the possibility of a new international order. As the leader of a newly independent country, Nazarbayev’s idea highlighted the international status of his country and at the same time fit with the theme of global peace and development. After seven years of hard work, the first meeting of foreign ministers of CICA member states was held in 1999. The “Declaration on the Principles Guiding Relations between the CICA Member States” adopted at the meeting, and later the Almaty Act adopted at CICA’s first summit held in 2002 became the stepping stone toward future evolution of CICA. The establishment of the CICA Secretariat in Almaty in 2006 and the first chairmanship handover from Kazakhstan to Turkey in 2010 marked a new stage in CICA’s institutionalisation.

The fourth CICA Summit held in Shanghai in 2014 represented another milestone, where Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed a new concept of “common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security” for Asia, winning broad-based approval. With its further enlargement and growing international influence to unprecedented levels, CICA has become a comprehensive forum for official security dialogues and people-to-people exchanges.

As the most representative multilateral security institution in Asia with 26 member states and 14 observers, CICA plays a significant role in the Asia-Pacific landscape. Firstly, CICA has developed into an open and inclusive multilateral security institution as well as a venue for substantive consultations and dialogues on regional security challenges, capable of building a broad-based consensus among regional countries.

Secondly, bearing in mind diverse security concerns of the countries in the region, CICA is well positioned to meet the shared security demands and advance a common security agenda for all regional stakeholders.

Finally, CICA is capable of providing a solid institutional foundation for and charting the shortest path towards an Asian security architecture. Looking ahead, greater efforts should be made in the following aspects to fulfil CICA’s set goals. Firstly, fostering a pan-Asian sense of shared destiny through substantive inter-civilization dialogues and closer economic cooperation. Secondly, strengthening capacity and institution building to increase CICA’s relevance and influence in Asian security dynamics in order to lay a solid foundation for viable Asian security architecture. Thirdly, building a common vision out of divergent views and creating synergy within the CICA framework by making full use of the comparative advantages of all stakeholders especially those of small and medium-sized countries. Finally, improving the Track II dialogue mechanism within the CICA framework to build consensus and provide recommendations on CICA’s future development.

Over the past 25 years, CICA has developed into a highly representative and inclusive institution promoting regional security. To live up to the expectations of CICA members, China as the rotating chair has stepped up its efforts to revitalise CICA by fulfilling many of its commitments made at the summit, including initiating and sponsoring the CICA non-governmental forum, international roundtable meetings of CICA think tanks and CICA Youth Council.

CICA is capable of providing a solid institutional foundation for charting the shortest path towards Asian security architecture

China hosted the second conference of the CICA nongovernmental forum on occasion of CICA completing a quarter century from June 28 to 29, 2017 in Beijing. Over 200 delegates from all over the world participated and held a discourse at eight different roundtable conferences ranging from Spreading Asian Security Concept, Building Community of Common Destiny—the Role of the Media in Asian Security to UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Asia in Action; Asian Security Situation: assessment and Prospect; Cyberspace Security: Opportunities and Challenges; the Development of Regional Integration and the Role of CICA non-governmental forum; Anti-terrorism Cooperation: Seek Solutions to both the Symptoms and Root Causes; Address Climate Change: Solutions in Asia; Reinforce Financial Security Cooperation, Support Regional Economic Development.

All these activities are conducive to the promotion of CICA’s publicity and recognition both within and outside the Asian continent. However, CICA’s overall influence on Asia’s security agenda is still limited.

There is yet a long way to go before CICA could fulfil its vision. Asia’s unique security environment demands a more active CICA, and CICA also needs more sound and effective institutions to maximise its role in Asian Security System. To maintain CICA’s positive evolutionary momentum, greater efforts need to be made in the fields of fostering a pan-Asian sense of shared destiny; strengthening capacity and institution building, accommodating small and medium-sized nations’ security concerns and giving Track II dialogue an institutionalised role in promoting CICA’s evolution.

This scribe was invited as a participant and presented his views on “Belt and Road and sustainable Security”.

The writer is a retired Group Captain of PAF. He is a columnist, analyst and TV talk show host, who has authored six books on current affairs, including three on China

Published in Daily Times, July 1^st , 2017.