Sri Lanka's president to attend key conference in China

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa will leave for a state visit to China to attend the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), on an invitation from Beijing, the official government website said on Monday. Rajapaksa will leave Sri Lanka on Tuesday to attend the fourth CICA summit to be held in Shanghai. Forty-six State leaders as well as representatives of international organizations will attend the summit. Ahead of the conference Chinese vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said China, as a founding CICA member and a positive participant in its development, had made its due contribution to enhancing cooperation, solidarity and trust between Asian countries. He described the three targets of the two-day Shanghai summit as promoting communication and trust, gathering consensus and wisdom, and discussing ways to solve pressing issues. "Through the summit, we hope to offer a platform for countries to exchange views on Asian security and cooperation," he said. CICA member states are expected to issue a Shanghai Declaration elaborating on their common aspirations and commitments to strengthening strategic coordination and building an integrated security environment. It will also expound on plans for CICA development over the next 10 years. Shanghai was chosen to host the summit because it is a window showcasing the fruits of China's reform and opening-up, Cheng added. President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, President Almazbek Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan and President Hassan Rouhani of Iran will also be taking the opportunity to pay state visits to China. Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair the summit. In 2013, Sri Lanka took part in the summit as an observer country and nine countries including the United States participate in the summit as observers. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will arrive in China on Sunday, for a four-day visit and will attend the CICA conference in Shanghai. Ban was reported by international media saying he is looking forward to China's upcoming presidency of the summit.