5th Heart of Asia conference begins in Pakistan

The fifth edition of ‘Heart of Asia’ conference, an annual regional gathering of Asian and other countries commenced in Islamabad Pakistan.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani jointly inaugurated the ministerial-level meeting.
Key facts

• Theme of the meeting: ‘Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process: Enhanced cooperation for countering security threats and promoting connectivity in the Heart of Asia region.’
• Focus of the two day conference: To increase cooperation for countering security threats and promotion of connectivity in the region.
• It is jointly hosted by Pakistan and Afghanistan and would be attended by the high-ranking delegations from 14 participating states, 17 supporting countries and 12 international and regional organisations. From India, the Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is attending the meeting.
• Six key areas: The 14 participating states are pursuing confidence-building measures in 6 key areas including counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, disaster management, education, trade and investment and regional infrastructure.

About Heart of Asia conference

• Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process was established 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey.
• Seeks to provide a platform to deal common regional issues particularly encouraging security along with political and economic cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbours facing problems of terrorism, extremism and poverty.
• 14 Member states: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and UAE.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2015