CICA Baku Declaration Advances Eurasia’s Security Order

All member states of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) adopted the Baku Declaration at the organization’s seventh summit on October 15, establishing a shared framework for regional cooperation on peace, security, stability, and development. The summit reached consensus that regional stability depends not only on the absence of armed conflict but also on resilient infrastructure, uninterrupted trade routes, reliable energy supplies, and effective mechanisms for managing shared risks. Ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s war against Ukraine leave energy and transit infrastructure vulnerable. Integrating regional transit corridors and energy infrastructure provides greater security by creating alternative routes and deepening cooperation among regional countries.

On October 15, all 29 member states of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) adopted the Baku Declaration at the organization’s seventh summit (CICA; President of Azerbaijan, October 15). The declaration establishes a shared framework for regional cooperation on peace, security, stability, and development. It treats transport corridors, secure energy infrastructure, stable supply chains, and digital cooperation as integral to national and regional security (CICA; Trend, October 15). By connecting these priorities within a common framework, the Baku Declaration positions CICA as a platform for advancing a multipolar security order across Eurasia. The summit convened under the theme “A Stronger CICA: Connectivity, Digitalization, and Sustainable Growth in Asia” and gave participants a venue to propose initiatives that would complement the declaration with practical follow-up (President of Azerbaijan, October 15).

The summit highlighted the relationship between economic cooperation, connectivity, and security. In his address to the participants, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the interdependence of economic ties, transport connectivity, and energy security in building a secure region (President of Azerbaijan, October 15; Report, October 16). This approach reflects the view that regional stability depends on more than the absence of armed conflict. Security today depends more on resilient infrastructure, uninterrupted trade routes, reliable energy supplies, and effective mechanisms for managing shared risks. The Baku Declaration reflects the same understanding by treating these areas as closely connected elements of a broader regional security framework (CICA, October 15).

Energy security represents an essential pillar of this approach. The declaration calls for diversified energy resources, secure cross-border infrastructure, open sea lanes, efficient use of all fuels, and orderly energy transitions (CICA, October 15). These priorities align CICA’s security agenda with Eurasia’s growing importance as a corridor for oil, natural gas, electricity, critical minerals, and renewable-energy trade (The Astana Times, October 20). By emphasizing diversification and infrastructure protection, the declaration recognizes that reliable energy flows depend on both secure physical networks and cooperation among producing, transit, and consuming countries.

Recent developments illustrate the clearest evidence of this linkage. On September 14, the Houthis strengthened their position around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, months after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (EuroNews, September 14). After that, Riyadh temporarily closed the East–West Crude Oil Pipeline (Al Jazeera, September 17). Approximately 12 percent of global trade passes through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, including an estimated 11 percent of global oil shipments and 8 percent of liquefied natural gas trade (Al Jazeera, September 13; EuroNews, September 14). They mainly transport crude oil to Asian markets via Saudi Arabia’s East–West Pipeline, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz (Al Jazeera, April 6; ORF Middle East, April 23). Disruption of Bab el-Mandeb adds challenges to energy supplies to Asia (ORF Middle East, April 23). These risks highlight the growing importance of alternative transport and logistics corridors to diversify energy supplies and maintain trade flows.

Combined with Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine and Middle East conflicts, these disruptions leave Eurasia’s energy system vulnerable. As a result, the situation complicates the region’s energy stability and puts additional pressure on vulnerable countries that depend on oil and gas imports. During this period, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also referred to as the Middle Corridor, became an indispensable logistics route. The TITR links the People’s Republic of China (PRC)with Europe, passing through Central Asia, Azerbaijan and Türkiye (see EDM, June 17). Its importance extends beyond commercial freight. By offering an alternative east–west connection, the corridor reduces the strategic leverage of routes controlled by Russia or passing through Iran. Over the years, the TITR became not just a route, but an emerging multimodal transport system combining railway, port, and maritime infrastructure across several countries (Trend, September 26). The TITR transported about 44,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first eight months of 2026 (Trend, September 26).

TITR’s potential integration with the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) is particularly notable, connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia’s Syunik Province. TRIPP’s value therefore extends beyond a bilateral transport link (see EDM, April 30). As a planned multimodal corridor combining road, rail, energy, and digital infrastructure, it would add a southern branch and reduce the Middle Corridor’s current reliance on Georgian transit routes (see EDM, April 30). During the summit, Kazakhstan President Tokayev also proposed developing a CICA Transport Connectivity Strategy to assess and coordinate the region’s major east-west and north–south routes, including the PRC’s One Belt One Road initiative, the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), the TITR, and TRIPP (Times Central Asia, October 15). Tokayev argued that integrating the Middle Corridor with TRIPP could expand the region’s existing transit potential and serve the long-term interests of participating states.

Interest in linking such corridors was already visible on September 9 at the CICA conference of port authorities in Baku, titled “The Role of Ports in Regional Connectivity and Strategic Cooperation.” Jiang Wei, vice president for external relations at Lianyungang Port, proposed incorporating the Baku International Sea Trade Port into the existing Lianyungang–Khorgos–Aktau “Three Nodes” logistics chain (Report, September 9; CACI Analyst, October 20). The model, developed with Kazakhstan Railways since 2013, links the China–Kazakhstan Logistics Base in Lianyungang, the Khorgos dry port on the PRC–Kazakhstan border, and the Aktau International Container Hub in Kazakhstan (Times Central Asia, August 13). The proposed logistics chain signals interest in strengthening the Middle Corridor among CICA states and shifting toward integrating previously separate infrastructure projects (CACI Analyst, October 20).

Beyond connectivity, the Baku Declaration also sets out a distinct approach to regional security, one built on prevention (CICA, October 15). This preventive orientation is reflected in several provisions of the declaration. It signals a shift from a predominantly military-centric approach to a dialogue-based model. This institutional framework allows early identification of tensions and the use of diplomatic tools to prevent escalation into armed conflict. Tokayev also articulated this approach. At the outset of his address, he proposed launching a CICA Mechanism for Preventive Diplomacy (The Astana Times; KazInform, October 15). Such a mechanism would enable every CICA member state to participate systematically in decision-making. This approach would reduce tensions among participating states and allow problems to be addressed as they arise.

Baku Declaration advances Eurasia’s security order less by resolving existing disputes than by changing how security is pursued. It moves the emphasis from managing crises after they erupt to reducing the conditions that produce them. The declaration responds to what it describes as a “profound transformation” of the global security landscape, driven by eroding trust and weakening multilateralism. It explicitly connects stronger cooperation among member states with “growing multipolarity.” By addressing often-overlooked dimensions of security, the Baku Declaration broadens the traditional understanding of security. It extends this understanding beyond military and political concerns to include the infrastructural foundations of regional stability.

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