The Secretariat of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) hosted an iftar dinner for the CICA Member States, Observer States and international Observer Organizations. The event was attended by First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Akan Rakhmetullin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Adil Tursunov, Director of the Department of the Asia-Pacific Region of the MFA of Kazakhstan Zhoshykhan Kyraubayev, Ambassadors and Heads of Mission of Belarus, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam as well as representatives of the Embassy of Azerbaijan, Egypt, and Turkey. The representatives of international organizations: the UNDP, the International Organization for Migration and the OSCE also participated in the event.
In his address CICA Executive Director Kairat Sarybay congratulated the Muslim community on the holy month of Ramadan by emphasizing the following: “In the contemporary time when the world is still faced with conflicts on ethnic, cultural, religious and racial grounds, the humanity is looking for a way to build peaceful and stable societies. Islam, as well as all world religions, provides a valuable foundation for the culture of peace, on the promotion of common values of dialogue, mutual understanding and tolerance”.
The Head of the Secretariat further elaborated that the event brought together Muslims and people of other faiths who are committed to a shared goal of fostering peace, stability and prosperity. “And these collaborations are intended to bring us closer to achieving our common goal through enhancing people-to-people contacts, through partnerships and connectivity based on respect for diversity”, concluded Ambassador Kairat Sarybay.
CICA, as a multilateral dialogue platform, uniting 27 Asian countries with diverse cultural backgrounds, attaches great importance to ensuring peaceful and amicable relations among the different communities and nations across the CICA area. The CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures updated in October 2021 underscores the importance of building trust in the Human dimension. Promotion of dialogue among civilizations, cultures and religions is at the core of the CICA activities.
