DUSHANBE, October 17, Asia-Plus — An international conference formally titled ‘Interaction between NGOs of Member Nations of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to Maintain the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime and Implement Concept of Nuclear-Free Zone in Central Asia” opened in Dushanbe today.
The two-day conference staged by the International Federation for Peace and Conciliation (IFPC), CSTO Secretariat and Tajikistan’s Foundation for Peace will consider international security issues and expanded cooperation in the Asian region. Participants at the conference are also considering the role of international organizations, NGOs and civil society in this process as well as the problems and prospects of creating a nuclear-weapons-free zone in Central Asia.
A source at the IFPC said that the conference is the next step towards development of a broad dialogue on the concept of the nuclear-free zone in Central Asia.
The conference participants include representatives from the Tajikistan’s president’s office, security council, CSTO, UN Institute for Disarmament Research, UN agencies active in Tajikistan, the India-based Asian Peoples Foundation, as well as senior representatives from diplomatic missions of Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan in Dushanbe.
