Afghan newspapers widely cover CICA summit

Afghan newspapers on Thursday gave wide coverage to the just concluded fourth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence building Measures in Asia (CICA).

"Afghanistan President Hamid karzai said in his speech at the CICA summit on Wednesday that terrorism is a threat to peace and stability in the region, and could be overcome through confidence- building measures, mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and honest cooperation among states," the English Daily Outlook wrote in its front page.

"President Karzai stressed in his speech that there was a dire need for collective efforts to counter terrorism and extremism," quoting Afghan presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi, the paper added.

Another newspaper the Daily Afghanistan also published the CICA summit on its front page, writing that a member of countries at the conference expressed support to the orderly and peaceful conclusion of the ongoing developments in hotspot regions including the Middle East and North Africa. "We believe that the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan should be Afghan-owned and Afghan-led," a joint declaration issued at the CICA summit in Shanghai said Wednesday, according to another newspaper Eitelaat-e-Roze.

The paper also added that 12 heads of state and government including Russian president Vladimir Putin, Iranian president Hassan Rohani and Afghan president Hamid Karzai attended the fourth CICA conference.

The CICA summit was held in Shanghai, China from May 20 to 21 under the theme of increasing dialogue, mutual trust and collaboration to build a new Asia that is peaceful and cooperative.