Russian President Vladimir Putin presented a far-ranging speech at the 6th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), taking place on Oct. 12-13 in Astana, Kazakhstan. CICA involves 27 nations, including Russia, China, and India. Putin, as he has in recent international forums, put Asia into the middle of the creation of a multipolar, constructive world. According to his address, posted on the Presidential website, he made these points:
“The world is becoming truly multipolar, and Asia, where new centers of power are growing, is playing a major, if not the key role in this…. Asian countries are drivers of global economic growth. Integration associations, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Eurasian Economic Union, are working dynamically and effectively here.”
Russia plays a key role in these developments: “Russia is actively contributing to these processes. We are committed to the development and prosperity of Asia, to creating an open trade and investment cooperation space and broadening and deepening cooperation ties in various economic sectors towards this end. I would like to remind you that Russia was a founding country of the CICA Business Council….”
