Baku: The Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is scheduled to take place in Baku in October 2026, as announced by CICA Secretary General Kairat Sarybay during the 13th Meeting of the CICA Think Tank Forum. The forum, themed “Resonance of Development and Security: Regional Cooperation and Governance in the Institutional Transformation of CICA,” was held in Baku.
According to Trend News Agency, informal consultations have already been conducted with the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) in preparation for a follow-up meeting at the upcoming summit in Baku. This meeting aims to address outstanding issues and explore ideas for transformation within the organization.
The secretary general highlighted that discussions held on September 9-10 enhanced the collective understanding of transforming CICA into a fully-fledged international organization. This transformation is envisioned to be based on inclusive governance, confidence-building measures, and the development of a common strategy for prosperity across the Asian region.
Sarybay also mentioned that the adoption of the organization’s charter is planned for Baku in 2026. CICA was proposed by Kazakhstan’s then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the 1992 UN General Assembly. The organization’s foundational texts, the Declaration on Principles Guiding Relations between CICA Member States and the Almaty Act, were approved in 1999 and 2002, respectively. The initiative was well-received by Asian nations, and after seven years of discussions, the first CICA Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting took place on September 14, 1999, attended by 15 member states. During this meeting, the Declaration on Principles Guiding Relations was adopted.