CICA Summit: Uzbekistan’s initiatives to strengthen peace in Asia

The Asian region, where huge human and natural resources are concentrated, is rightfully considered one of the main driving forces of global development. According to the Asian Development Bank, by 2050 the GDP of Asian countries together will exceed 50 percent of the global value.

At the same time, Asia is considered to be a place of potential emergence of centers of instability in its parts, which can subsequently result in armed clashes.

Of course, such challenges require a response from the international community, as well as collective opposition.

Today, one of the major multilateral structures whose activities are aimed at solving these problems is the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), a forum that promotes peace, security and stability throughout the continent. CICA has 28 member states. Several more countries, as well as international organizations, have observer status, making it the leading platform for political dialogue, reaching over 50 percent of the world’s population.

On 12-13 October this year, the capital of Kazakhstan hosted the 6th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, which was attended by the heads of 11 states.

The key themes of the summit were economic cooperation, expansion of trade relations and security in the CICA space and the world as a whole.

It should also be noted that against the background of current international events, this event, pursuing the goals of achieving peace and stability, is timely.

On the sidelines of the summit, the heads of state put forward specific proposals and initiatives to strengthen trade and economic cooperation, develop joint projects and ensure security.

In particular, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan touched upon the situation in Afghanistan. It was proposed to create a high-level negotiating group to resolve the situation in the country. The President also emphasized that against the backdrop of other acute problems, Afghanistan began to fade into the background of the international agenda.

This statement by Shavkat Mirziyoyev is quite justified, since due to the current geopolitical realities, the world community has begun to lose sight of Afghanistan, the socio-political and trade-economic situation which cannot yet be considered stable.

To achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan, the President of Uzbekistan proposed to consider the possibility of a joint appeal of Asian countries to the United Nations General Assembly with the initiative to form a high-level international negotiating group to prepare and agree with the Afghan authorities on an algorithm for the phased fulfillment of the obligations of the parties.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s initiative to ensure peace in Afghanistan will help stabilize the social and humanitarian situation in the country, as well as restore its relations with other countries.

In addition, the President of Uzbekistan put forward initiatives designed to improve mutual understanding between generations, ensure the openness of markets, strengthen connectivity in Asia, stimulate digitalization, and unite efforts in solving environmental issues through the Green Asia program.

As part of the summit, bilateral talks were also held between the leaders of the states. Thus, the President of Uzbekistan held meetings with the heads of Türkiye, Vietnam and Pakistan.

In particular, the prospects for the construction of the Termez - Mazar-i-Sharif – Kabul – Peshawar railway project, which is of strategic importance for Uzbekistan, were discussed with the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Moreover, this project will contribute to the restoration of socio-political stability in Afghanistan, will serve to ensure the connectivity of Central and South Asia.

Of course, these initiatives of Shavkat Mirziyoyev are relevant, since they all come from pressing problems that challenge the comprehensive development and prosperity not only of the Asian region, but of the whole world.

It should be noted that in recent years Uzbekistan has been increasingly actively promoting its interests and initiatives within the framework of international organizations. One of them is the CICA, where consolidated decisions are made on a particular problem at the continental level.

In conclusion, it is worth emphasizing that the 6th CICA Summit contributed to an increase in the prestige and significance of the organization itself, its expansion and its transition to a new stage of institutional development.

In particular, by the decision of the leaders of the countries participating in the summit, CICA became a full-fledged organization, the ranks of which were replenished by Kuwait, becoming the 28th member state.

Following the summit, six significant documents were adopted regarding the transformation of the CICA, information and communication technologies, the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, granting Kuwait the status of a member state of the organization, the creation of the CICA Foundation, as well as the chairmanship of Kazakhstan in the organization in 2022-2024.

Bunyod Tillakhodjayev,

Chief Specialist at the

Development Strategy Center.

UzA