Shanghai opens summit on Confidence Building Measures in Asia

Baku/20.05.14/Turan : In Shanghai, May 20 opens two-day 4th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia / CICA / . It is expected that it will be attended by 11 heads of state, the head of 1 government and 10 leaders of international organizations, Xinhua reported.

President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Shanghai on a working visit to attend the summit after completing a one-day official visit to Vietnam.

Among the 11 heads of foreign countries are the Presidents of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Cheng at a press briefing.

He said that at the summit, the Russian President Vladimir Putin, the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev and the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will make state visits to China.

The summit will also be attended by the Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, announced the official.

The Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Special Representative of the President of Turkey Abdullah Gul, will attend the summit too. The Turkish President canceled his scheduled visit to China and will not attend the summit due to the tragedy in a Turkish coal mine.

The Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to hold bilateral meetings with several leaders of foreign countries during the summit, said Cheng.

Cheng said there are three objectives Shanghai summit: to expand contacts and build confidence between the parties, to exchange views and develop common solutions, and to discuss ways to overcome pressing problems faced by Asia.

"At the summit, we hope to provide a platform for different countries to exchange views on security and cooperation in Asia," he said, adding that the CICA member countries are expected to unveil the Shanghai Declaration - a document that expresses the common intention of the parties and the strong desire to strengthen strategic cooperation and create conditions to ensure security in the region.

The Shanghai Declaration will also set out the development plan for the CICA for the next decade, said the deputy minister.

"As the host country of the summit, China is ready within CICA to guide the stakeholders on the peaceful regulation of conflicts and disputes through equal consultation," said Cheng.

CICA was founded in 1992 as a platform for dialogue, consultation and confidence growth. Now the forum brings together 24 member countries and 13 observer countries. -0 –