With a new government yet to take office, India will have a low key participation at a key conference on regional security in Asia being held in Shanghai this week and will be attended by leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Dinkar Khullar, Secretary of West of the External Affairs, would represent India at the two Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) meet beginning on May 20, officials here said.
The event, which focuses on regional security, will be attended by 11 heads of states, two heads of governments and 10 chiefs of international organisations, official media here reported.
The dignitaries will include Putin, Rouhani, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon besides Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will expound on China‘s views on the Asian security situation and put forward proposals for beefing up regional security dialogue and cooperation during the summit, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said.
The meeting, which is being held in the backdrop of tensions between China and the some of the South East Asian countries over maritime disputes in South China Sea, is expected to discuss topics including the Asian security situation, measures to promote Asian dialogues, trust and coordination.
China will take over as CICA host from 2014 to 2016.
During the summit, President Xi will announce China’s measures to promote Asia security and CICA development in his key-note speech, Cheng told a press briefing, Cheng said.
The conference will result in a Shanghai Declaration elaborating on CICA members’ agreement on the global and regional situation, their consensus in solving hot issues as well as plans for CICA development, he said.
Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan will host a welcome banquet for foreign guests on Tuesday.
The summit itself will be held on Wednesday at the Shanghai Expo Centre.
Founded in 1992, CICA currently has 24 members: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine, South Korea, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.