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Spotlight on Vajpayee, Musharraf at Kazakhstan meet

Alexander Sosnin in Almaty

One of the questions doing the rounds in the foreign ministry of Kazakhstan as it prepares for the Conference on Interactions and Confidence building measures in Asia (CICA) from June 3-5 is whether Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will shake hands.

Observers are curious and eager to see sworn enemies India and Pakistan at the conference. While India has ruled out a formal meeting with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, speculation is rife on whether Musharraf would stick his hand out to the Vajpayee like he did at the SAARC meet in Kathmandu in January this year.

"Meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the summit would give a strong message of peace in Asian region," a senior Kazakhstan foreign official said.

Security concerns, including on international terrorism, are expected to figure prominently at the Conference and it is expected to come out with a declaration on combating terrorism.

"Convening the summit at a time when member states are confronted with the shared problem of fighting terrorism could narrow down the range of issues included on the agenda," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin are among the 16 heads of member nations, nine observer nations and international agencies expected to attend the three-day summit.

The membership of the Conference is diverse, and includes Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Palestine National Administration, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

The participation of Israel had Iran and Pakistan in arms against sharing a common platform with the Jewish nation. It took deft maneuverings to get Iran and Pakistan to agree and attend the summit.

In June 2001, a new member, Mongolia, joined the CICA. The United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as six countries, including the United States have observer status.

The first ever summit of heads of states of the CICA member-countries is expected to result in signing of the final document by the 16 leaders reconfirming their commitment to building a 'safer and more secure Asia'.

The Almaty Act is the final document of Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.

The Almaty Act 'unconditionally and unequivocally' condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, as well as any support or acquiescence to it and the failure to directly condemn it.

The document declares determination of the member States of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia to cooperate on bilateral and multilateral basis to combat terrorism, including its possible sources.

"The initiatives and arrangements are aimed at strengthening peace, stability, security and cooperation in Asia. Disarmament, arms control and confidence building measures are essential in achieving the goal of strengthening peace, security and stability in Asia," explained a senior official in the Kazakhstan government.

The geographic scope of the CICA is immense. The overall territory of these 16 countries constitutes 388 million square kilometers, about 89 per cent of the whole of Asia and 72 per cent of Eurasia.

Almost 3 billion people live in these countries, which is 45 per cent of the world's population.

The CICA members include some of the largest developing economies of the world, particularly China, India, and Russia.

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