ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) - Leaders from 16 nations including feuding neighbors India and Pakistan gathered in Kazakhstan on Tuesday to adopt common principles of coexistence in Asia and affirm a joint commitment to fighting terrorism.
The first summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia was overshadowed by diplomatic efforts to persuade Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to meet face to face with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to prevent the Kashmir conflict from igniting a full-scale war between the two nuclear powers.
Musharraf has said he is willing to talk with no preconditions, but Vajpayee refuses to budge until he has proof that Pakistan has cut off militants who have attacked India.
The conflict is but one of many in the territory covered by the new security forum, which is the brainchild of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and is intended to be an Asian version of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The European group began as a detente-era forum for arms control negotiations and human rights discussions but evolved into a motor for democratization efforts and conflict mediation after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
The Asian group could become a forum for resolving regional disputes over borders, use of resources such as water, illegal migration and drug trafficking, according to Kazakh diplomats.
In addition to regional giants Russia and China, representatives of Israel, Iran and the Palestinians were to be seated around the same table Tuesday.
All the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, except for Turkmenistan, which maintains a policy of neutrality, belong to the group, as do Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Egypt and Mongolia.
Leaders from the 16 nations were to sign a statement on principles to promote stability in the region, including a commitment to halt the spread of nuclear weapons, and a declaration on fighting terrorism.
Conference members began bilateral consultations Monday. Nazarbayev met separately with Vajpayee and Musharraf, launching a mediation effort that was to continue through the day on Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin were scheduled to hold nearly simultaneous meetings with the South Asian leaders on Tuesday afternoon - ensuring that even if the two refuse one-on-one talks, their messages will be delivered through intermediaries.
Afghanistan's interim leader, Hamid Karzai, also had talks scheduled with various regional leaders about reconstruction efforts in his country.