Ambassador Kairat Sarybai, Executive Director of the CICA Secretariat
Background
Amidst global shifts in geopolitics of the Eurasia and Eastern Europe, old and new civil or interstate conflicts, as well as new challenges and threats that have emerged, including organised crime, separatism, religious extremism, terrorism, drug and human trafficking, it is proven compulsory to have appropriate mechanisms for interaction and security at a regional level in regard to achieve stability in internal development in each country.
As the country with the achievement in building stability and solidarity among extreme ethnic diversity, the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev had initiated the promotion of principles for multi-vector and multilateral diplomacy in foreign policy. He had expedited a number of international initiatives aimed at maintaining peace and security at regional and global levels wherein the Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is of these initiatives.
Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) aims at creating a security system in Asia, in which all member states would be protected, and their security would be guaranteed by a whole range of international legal measures aimed at a genuine reduction in the level of potential military threats in Asia.
On September 14, 1999, the first official document laid to establish subsequent development was the Declaration of Principles Governing Relations between the CICA Member States. Followingly, The Declaration of the CICA member states confirmed their adherence to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
CICA today
Over twenty years since the establishment of CICA, the organisation has gained a prestigious position in the architecture of pan-Asian security, side by side with other regional organisations. CICA has become an effective international forum for building confidence and co-operation aimed at ensuring peace, security and stability in Asia.
Nowadays, the meeting has a permanent Secretariat, the headquarters of which is located in the modern EXPO complex in the city of Nur-Sultan.
Chairmanship of Kazakhstan
The year of 2020 was marked by the fact that Kazakhstan was again elected to the post of the CICA Chairman, having the Secretariat bolstered the mission of the Chairmanship through relevant analytical work and implementation.
Strengthening the role of the CICA is the key to Asian security
As an initiator of the CICA process, Kazakhstan has proposed a gradual and consistent transformation of the Conference into a full-fledged international organisation, which will serve as the transition to the new level of co-operation, preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention.
Summary
In the present day, Asia is still burdened with several longstanding conflicts and mutual mistrust. Global problems of our time have continued, including international terrorism and extremism, illegal drug and human trafficking, illegal migration, religious and ethnic intolerance, environmental disasters.
Through the years, CICA has made a significant evolutionary path from the inception of an idea to its implementation. Currently, it deserves a platform for interaction between Asian states on a wide range of security issues. It is now time for the peoples of Asia to determine their future and build the most effective approaches to strengthen international security and co-operation.
The First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, as the Founder of the CICA, was the person whom the Nation has always expressed deep gratitude for his significant contribution to the development of CICA.
