Security summit to help build mutual trust

Tu Guangshao (C), deputy mayor of Shanghai, answers questions at the press briefing of the 4th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Shanghai, east China, May 19, 2014. The summit will be held in Shanghai from May 20 to 21. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - An upcoming Asian security summit will strengthen dialogue, build mutual trust and broaden cooperation among Asian countries and help the region address some hotspot issues, foreign leaders and experts said.

The fourth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in the eastern Chinese metropolis of Shanghai, will draw delegations from nearly 40 countries and international organizations.

Foreign leaders and experts also said China, which is going to take over the CICA presidency from 2014 to 2016, will play a more important role in leading the regional body in its efforts to promote peace and development in Asia.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who will attend the summit, said during an interview with reporters ahead of his China trip that the CICA provides a platform where regional leaders could build mutual trust and demonstrate their commitments to cooperation.

"I have great expectation in China's leadership and vision in leading this CICA process," Ban said.

Asia, particularly Northeast Asia, is the source of growth and innovation, and there is a huge, great expectation from the international community that this is an Asian Era, he added.

"To make it possible, Asian nations should be more united, provided their potential to further their future oriented way," he said.

Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain also said his country attaches great importance to the upcoming CICA summit in Shanghai.

"The CICA is a very important regional forum that can promote regional peace, security and stability among the member countries," Hussain told Chinese media before leaving for China to attend the summit.

He said Pakistan expects that CICA member countries would further strengthen this forum and find ways to implement its ideals and guiding principles into political and economic realities for the benefit of the entire region.

The Pakistani president voiced his hope that regional stability and cooperation would be significantly improved with China taking the chair of the CICA.

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