India to take part in key regional summit in Shanghai

An Indian delegation headed by Dinkar Khullar, secretary in the external affairs ministry, will attend a key regional conference in Shanghai on cooperation and security.

Khullar, secretary (West) in the ministry, will attend the May 20-21 Fourth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Shanghai.

The theme of the summit is "Strengthening Dialogue, Mutual Trust and Coordination, Building a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous New Asia".

India is among the 24 members of the CICA, which was founded in 1992.

Among the other members are Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

It was set up in 1992 at the initiative of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbaev.

As enshrined in the Almaty Act of June 2002, CICA's mandate is enhancing cooperation through elaborating multilateral approaches towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.

Bangladesh and Qatar will join CICA as its newest members at the Shanghai summit.

The first two summits of CICA were hosted by Kazakhstan and the third was held in Istanbul in 2010 when Turkey assumed chairmanship of CICA.

"A draft declaration would be adopted at the end of the Shanghai summit. India's participation in CICA underlines India's active contribution to Asian security and its historical and mutually-beneficial ties with Central Asia," said a statement from the external affairs ministry.

The conference will draw 11 heads of state, one government head and 10 chiefs of international organisations.

The dignitaries will include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.