DNA

ASTANA (Kazakhstan), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday joined the leaders of CICA member countries at a dinner reception hosted by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

On his arrival at the venue, the prime minister was received by the Kazakh president.

The prime minister, along with a delegation, is currently visiting Astana to attend the 6th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), being held in the Kazakh capital on October 12-13.

Besides other CICA leaders, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev also attended the reception.

Prior to the reception, the prime minister, along with other participating leaders also attended a cultural show.

Prime Minister Shehbaz had recently met both leaders on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit held in Samarkand.

During the visit, the prime minister will address the plenary meeting of CICA on Thursday, where he will elaborate upon the significance of CICA as a unique forum for promoting interaction, understanding, and collaboration amongst countries across Asia to address common challenges.

He will also highlight Pakistan’s perspective on regional and global issues.

After his arrival, the prime minister met President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, and discussed bilateral relations and ways to further enhance mutual cooperation.

CICA is an intergovernmental process comprising 27 countries from all across Asia. Established in 1992, it focuses on promoting peace, security and socio-economic development in the Asian continent. Pakistan is one of its founding members.