The second round of the non-governmental Forum of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measure in Asia (CICA) – which was initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in May 2014 – was held in Beijing on June 28. The Conference was attended by delegates from many countries and state members. With concerns about political and economic crises throughout the Asia, “sustainable development” and promoting peace and stability were discussed in the Forum that was chaired by Chen Yuan, Vice Chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
The main challenges in Asia pointed out in the Forum were: terrorism, imbalanced security, territorial disputes, maritime problem, climate changes, human trafficking, narcotic drug and lack of cybersecurity. 
With the escalated violence and bloodshed and modern terrorism, traditional mechanism is not able to address the problem. The Conference provided a suitable platform for the world’s delegates to discuss the security challenges and economic crises and suggest strategies to mitigate the life-threatening issues. Muwafag Al-Rubaye, Member of Parliament of Iraq, expressed his deep concern over the militancy carried out by the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group and over the Syria conflict, which, according to him, is stoking sectarianism between Shiite and Sunni Muslims and exploiting the security forces. He said that a large number of Sunni Arabs were displaced internally by the “ideological enemy” i.e. the ISIL group.  
Many opinions were discussed to put an end to the challenging issues, which menace not only the region but the entire globe, and to gain sustainable development. For instance, the objectives of the CICA Forum was said to “foster community of shared future”, to use the words of one of the participants, enhance win-win cooperation, promote security and sustainable development, etc. Indeed, when the world seeks to resolve the challenges with the spirit of brotherhood and uphold human rights, the bulk of the problems will be resolved.
In one of the round-table discussions in the CICA Forum, I said that combating terrorism was the first issue the world needed to begin. Besides pointing out the root causes of terrorism, I came with a conclusion for eradicating this global threat. I suggested two main solutions for mitigating the persistent militancy: First, it would be highly effective if the clergy of the state members form a religious committee to campaign against terrorism through speeches and written documents. For instance, the spiritual leaders mainly from Islamic countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc. issue fatwa (religious decree) so as to condemn terrorist acts and publish magazines for enlightening the true and peaceful spirit of religion. No doubt, mullahs and muftis in the mentioned countries carry much weight for Islamic societies and their fatwa and preach against extremism will reduce terrorism to a great extent. Second, I said that traditional mechanism for combating modern terrorism will not tackle the issue. The world should reinforce intelligence and make them do their best on the ground and in cyberspace to combat insurgency.
I further said that Afghan nation paid great sacrifices in combating terrorism and the world should stand with Afghanistan, which is considered the heart of Asia, and stop the persistent bleeding for the region’s safety.
The achievements of the CICA was pointed out by Gu Ziping, Chairman of the Task Force of the Chinese Chairmanship of the CICA. He said that the Asia security concept had been promoted on a large scale and the world thinks about the security in Asia. According to him, the conferences and summits are providing good platform for dialogue and negotiation and a series of activities and discussions are held in gaining sustainable development. So far, the membership of CICA had been extended. Moreover, the message of Xi Jinping read by Chen Yuan said that CICA met the common aspiration of people.
The objectives of CICA are to promote the spirit of co-existence, resolve disputes in a peaceful manner, enhance tolerance and regional cooperation, and stress the role of diplomatic approach for gaining peace and stability rather than persistent enforcement of power.
If the world seeks to respect the rights of all countries and individuals, promotes global cooperation and stands as an iron first against terrorism, the political and economic crises will come to an end. China plays its role very constructively in providing the platform for understanding, expressing views and sharing ideas for gaining sustainable development, political stability and economic progress. To sum up, China should be a role model for countries for extending the “soft power” rather than hard power. The world needs to pursue the strategy of “soft power” for overcoming the crises.