Excerpts from the speech by President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan to participants of the CICA Foreign Ministers Meeting
Almaty, 14 September 1999
Today we conclude the first stage of realisation of Kazakhstan's initiative to convene the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia.
I express gratitude to all States - participants of the CICA process for their support of Kazakhstan's initiative and for their active part in preparation of basic documents of the Conference.
It is precisely today's meeting in which we put our special hopes.
First, today is the first meeting of the heads of foreign ministries of Member States of the CICA.
Second, we hope that the representatives from 16 Asian nations will sign the Declaration on the Principles Guiding Relations Among the CICA Member States.
For the first time in history the judicial foundation of Asian system of security is being laid.
Putting forward the initiative to create a system of regional security in front of the United Nations seven years ago, we strove to revive efforts previously made in this direction.
Since the very beginning we have seen support from almost all Asian nations, as well as from a number of authoritative international bodies, first of all from the United Nations. The geographical scope of CICA membership is quite wide.
It includes Asian countries that have their own long history and traditions, various paths of development and original mentality, broad spectrum of national interests, as well as their own views on how to resolve problems of regional and world politics.
Therefore, the CICA development process requires a long time and the considerable efforts on behalf of all participants. At the same time, this spectrum of participation defines the uniqueness of realisation of this initiative.
The search for the universal blueprint of provision and sustainment of international security as well as optimal regime of coexistence of the states has become an indisputable challenge of the world politics in the 20th century.
This search was conditioned by the tragic realities of the present century: after the end of the World War II our world had lived through two hundred and seventy five wars and conflicts.
The task to provide security for Asia is especially pressing.
The region with the population of more than 3.5 billion, accounting for 55% of the world's gross national product and 40% of the world's trade, remains extremely unstable.
Numerous conflicts and mutual distrust are still plaguing Asia.
The clearly emerged tendency towards proliferation and modernisation of nuclear weapons is a matter of great concern. Global problems of present day world also loom acute, such as illegal immigration, ecological catastrophes, religious and ethnic intolerance, international terrorism and drug trafficking. And it is the international terrorism that is the reason for what is happening in North Caucasus, Kyrgyzstan and Moscow. This worries all of us.
Asia continues to be held hostage by prejudices and myths, imposed upon it from outside during the Cold War. Today it is extremely important to shed the psychology of behaviour of the period of global confrontation, that divided the world into 'us and them', and professed the principle of 'everyone against anyone'.
I believe that in the new geopolitical reality the provision of security is no longer a privilege of the chosen ones. It is necessary to combine joint efforts of the nations, regardless of their size, population or economic potential.
A lot of work has been done in this sphere. Speaking about the nearby regions, we are pleased to see the trend towards stabilisation in Tajikistan. The international community increases its pressure on the warring factions in Afghanistan in order to reach reconciliation. The situation in the Middle East also gives optimism.
Long discussions and laborious search for common denominators have preceded today's meeting. Our experts have not always managed to reach solutions from the outset. There were long discussions, especially about such problems as disarmament and arms control, non-intervention in internal affairs, humanitarian dimension. But it is quite natural that it is difficult to find quick solution to such complicated issues.
I know that until the very last minute you have been involved in the process of consensual agreeing of the documents and I am grateful for that to you.
The issue at stake today is an establishment of multilateral negotiations to settle urgent security problems.
The formula of the CICA success lies in gradual movement ahead, from the simple towards the complex. It is necessary to concentrate on the problems important for everybody and then move on to issues that remain unresolved.
The Declaration that you are about to sign is a result of arduous work of diplomats from many countries. It is an agreed opinion of Asian nations on the need for more secure world for our countries and peoples.
Preparing the Declaration, the experts have certainly used a great deal of experience accumulated elsewhere in the world, including in Europe.
But it is important that we have not just blindly copied already existing documents. The Declaration takes into account Asian specifics of the region and diversity of its countries.
It is, metaphorically speaking, 'the bones' of the process. It is now important to put some flesh on them. This task should be achieved during the preparation of the document, which I hope in the foreseeable future can be signed by the heads of state and government of the CICA Member States.
We have a task to develop new directions, first of all, of the conceptual aspects of CICA development and the establishment of a certain code of conduct for the Member States.
The name of our forum derives from two constituents, interaction and confidence measures. Whereas the interaction is understood, primarily, as co-operation, Asian nations understand confidence measures very differently from the way the Europeans see them.
Therefore, we have a complex task on our hands to introduce into Asian reality the existing world practice of providing security and stability.
We have had quite a good start. I mean the use of the mechanism of confidence measures developed by the members of Shanghai Five, who recently met in Bishkek. The mechanism is about transparency in military activity, the reduction in military activity in the border regions, settlement of border disputes and regular exchanges of information about military activity.
It is important to continue consultations within the framework of the Special Working Group. Its work can be carried out in sessions lasting for up to a month.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan should propose the schedule of the sessions of this group.
Today's meeting of foreign ministers of the CICA Member States and signing of the Declaration is, I hope, a landmark event in the foreign policy of sovereign Kazakhstan. This forum signifies, primarily, the firm commitment and good will of Asian nations.
I am confident that we will be able to cover this difficult path in the name of future Asia, - stable, secure and prosperous.
In conclusion I would like to express my gratitude to the foreign ministers for your active work and great contribution to achieving success in such a complicated business.
