External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, will represent India at the 5th Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Summit in the Tajikistan capital of Dushanbe.
This is Jaishankar’s second visit abroad after his induction into the Modi Government. He had last week visited Bhutan on his first overseas visit as foreign minister. The two-day CICA Summit got under way on Friday.
CICA is a pan-Asia forum for enhancing cooperation and promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.
India is a member of CICA since its inception and the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had participated in the first CICA Summit held in 2002 in Almaty. India has been actively participating in various activities conducted under the aegis of CICA.
The theme of the 5th Summit is “Shared Vision for a Secure and More Prosperous CICA Region”. The summit will adopt a declaration covering issues of cooperation within CICA.
During the 5th Summit, CICA Leaders are likely to deliberate on the existing and emerging issues of common concern to the members and underline implementation of confidence building measures for developing Asia into a prosperous, secure and peaceful region.
On the sidelines of the CICA Summit, Jaishankar will also hold bilateral meetings with several foreign leaders.
The Dushanbe visit will also push India’s Eurasia and Central Asia agenda since it is coinciding with the SCO Summit at which Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the Indian delegation.