In 2026, the international community marks a milestone – the 65th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s legendary flight. For the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, this year also commemorates a significant milestone: on 17 June, the CICA Secretariat will celebrate its 20th anniversary.
The two historic landmark events are linked by a unique artefact kept at the organization’s Headquarters in Astana – the CICA flag, which has been in near-Earth orbit.
On 9 April 2021, ahead of the 60th anniversary of the first human spaceflight, the “Yuri Gagarin” manned transport spacecraft (Soyuz MS-18) delivered the CICA flag to the International Space Station. The flag, symbolizing Asia’s aspiration for unity and progress, spent several months in space before returning safely to Earth in the autumn of the same year.
Seen from orbit, our continent appears as a calm, unified and indivisible whole. This view from above vividly illustrates the indivisibility, interconnectedness and inclusiveness of the nations of Asia, to which CICA has remained firmly committed since its inception. The flag’s space expedition embodies the organization’s mission to shape a paradigm of security and cooperation in Asia based on mutual trust, open dialogue and the consolidation of collective efforts.
The symbolism of this date is inextricably linked to CICA’s current development trajectory. As CICA transforms into a full-fledged international organization, it is focusing on strengthening confidence building measures and expanding areas of interaction among its Member States; among other things, support for humanity’s cutting-edge achievements, the integration of advanced technologies and the expansion of scientific cooperation will form an important part of the new strategy for regional interaction.
The flag bearing the autographs of the international crew members – Oleg Novitskiy, Pyotr Dubrov and Mark Vande Hei – is kept at the CICA Headquarters.
