<h1 class="ql-align-center">Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures (CICA)</h1> <h2>Context:</h2> <ul><li>Recently, the External Affairs Minister addressed the 6th Ministerial (2021) meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures (CICA) in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.</li></ul><h2> </h2><h2>About:</h2> <ul><li>The idea of creating the organization was first voiced by Kazakhstan in 1992 at the 47th session of the United Nations General Assembly, while the first CICA summit was held in June of 2002 </li></ul> <ul><li>CICA members include 27 Asian countries, including Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Russia, South Korea, and Turkey, nine observer states, and five international organizations.</li></ul> <ul><li>CICA is an intergovernmental forum aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and ensuring peace, security, and stability in Asia.</li></ul> <ul><li>CICA Secretariat has been located in Almaty (Kazakhstan) since June 2006.</li></ul> <ul><li>India has been a member of CICA since its inception in 1999.&nbsp;</li></ul> <ul><li>All decisions within the CICA framework are taken by consensus.</li></ul> <ul><li>The Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs is required to be held every two years.&nbsp;</li></ul> <ul><li>Kazakhstan is the current Chair and Initiator of the CICA Forum.</li></ul> <h2>Member Countries:</h2> <ul><li>Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, UAE, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Vietnam, Republic of Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, and Turkey.</li></ul> <h2>Observer states:</h2> <ul><li>Belarus, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and the USA.</li></ul>