Azerbaijan, Baku, March 12 / Trend E.Tariverdiyeva /
As a founder of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), Azerbaijan has made a significant contribution to the CICA, Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Nurlan Yermekbayev said.
"We are grateful to Azerbaijan, which was the first country after Kazakhstan in terms of allocated funds for the organization's budget," he said at the conference in Baku.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed establishing the CICA in 1992, he said.
"Then the continent needed such a forum as the CICA for dialogue," he added.
Over the years, the CICA has held two successful summits and two meetings at the ministerial level, he said.
According to the official, the organization will accept Vietnam and one or two more states in June.
"The organization covers a vast area, from the Middle East to Asia. Its main purpose is to allow different states to sit at the negotiating table and reach a consensus," the official said.
He added that the organization's principle is moving from simple to complex and addressing simple questions about contradictory issues.
"In June, Kazakhstan will transfer the chairmanship to Turkey at the CICA meeting in Istanbul. The event is also expected to organize a meeting with OSCE representatives which Kazakhstan currently presides," he added.
He said the CICA's chief instrument is a directory of confidence-building measures in various areas, including the military and political sphere, confronting challenges and environmental issues.
Yet the scope of the discussions about this structure does not include conflict issues on the territory of the CICA, he said.
"We discuss many issues in the military and political sphere and will work toward a unified approach to these issues based on a consensus," he noted.