Shanghai, May 20 (AZERTAC). The 4th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) has today started in Shanghai.

Themed “Increasing dialogue, mutual trust and collaboration to build a new Asia that is peaceful, stable and cooperative”, the event is attended by 10 presidents, high-ranking state and government officials, heads of international and regional organizations.

The two-day event will feature discussions on the main theme, and see the adoption of a final declaration of the summit and admit new members to the organization.

China will assume the chairmanship for 2014-2016 at the 4th Summit.

Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is a multi-national forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia. It is a forum based on the recognition that there is close link between peace, security and stability in Asia and in the rest of the world. The Member States, while affirming their commitment to the UN Charter, believe that peace and security in Asia can be achieved through dialogue and cooperation leading to a common indivisible area of security in Asia where all states co-exist peacefully and their peoples live in peace, freedom and prosperity.

The idea of convening the CICA was first proposed by 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. This initiative was supported by a number of Asian countries who felt that such a structure was the need of the time.