The presidents of the Caspian Five countries in the communiqué of the Sixth Caspian Summit outlined about two dozen principles, on the basis of which the activities of the littoral states in the Caspian Sea will be built. Among them is the principle of non-presence of the armed forces of other countries in the Caspian Sea. The document was published on Wednesday on the website of the president of Kazakhstan.
TASS collected the main theses of the communiqué of the Sixth Caspian Summit.
The Caspian Five will proceed from the principle of non-presence of armed forces not belonging to littoral states in the Caspian Sea, non-provision by any littoral state of its territory to other states for committing aggression and other military actions against any of the littoral states.
The principles also include "ensuring a stable balance of arms of littoral states in the Caspian Sea, conducting military buildup within a reasonable sufficiency, taking into account the interests of all littoral states, not harming each other's security", "observing the agreed confidence measures in military activities in a spirit of predictability and transparency in accordance with the common efforts to strengthen regional security and stability, including the agreements between all littoral states".
Participants of the summit assured that they will proceed from "respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence, sovereign equality of states, non-use of force or threat of force, mutual respect, cooperation, non-interference in each other's internal affairs; use of the Caspian Sea for peaceful purposes, making it a zone of peace, good neighborliness, friendship and cooperation, resolution of all Caspian Sea-related issues by peaceful means; ensuring security and stability in the Caspian region", "freedom of flight of civilian aircraft".
The leaders of Caspian countries will continue efforts to maintain regional security, strengthen mutually beneficial economic cooperation, ensure environmental safety, develop cultural, humanitarian, scientific and other relations.
The Caspian countries spoke in favor of advancing negotiations on the draft agreement on confidence-building measures in the field of military activities in the Caspian Sea. They noted that the agreement would "help to ensure security and stability and to establish norms and rules for cooperation of Caspian states in the military sphere in accordance with the principles of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea".
The Caspian states backed the soonest agreement on the draft Agreement on the method of establishment of straight baselines in the Caspian Sea.
The leaders of the Caspian countries recognize one of the main tasks to consolidate efforts to prevent sanitary-epidemiological emergencies.
Mutual support and solidarity of the Caspian countries in complicated conditions caused by the coronavirus pandemic were emphasized.
Maritime issues
The leaders of the five countries proceed from the principles of "freedom of navigation outside the outer territorial waters of each littoral state, while respecting the sovereign and exclusive rights of the littoral states and the rules established by them in this regard for certain activities of the littoral states".
They intend to "ensure the safety of navigation" and also proceed from the principle of "the right of free access from the Caspian Sea to other seas, the World Ocean and back on the basis of generally recognized principles and norms of international law and arrangements of the coastal states concerned, taking into account the legitimate interests of the coastal transit state to expand international trade and economic development".
The leaders of the five countries outlined the principle of "navigation in the Caspian Sea and passage to/from it by ships flying the flag of each littoral state only".
Ecology
The Five will base their work on the principles of "application of agreed norms and rules on reproduction and regulation of the use of shared water biological resources".
The leaders of the Caspian countries outlined the principle of "the responsibility of the littoral state, which allows pollution, for the damage caused to the ecological system of the Caspian Sea", "protection of the natural environment of the Caspian Sea, preservation, restoration and rational use of its biological resources".
They intend to base their work on the principles of "promoting scientific research in the field of ecology, conservation and use of biological resources of the Caspian Sea", "conducting marine scientific research outside the territorial waters of each coastal state in accordance with the legal norms agreed by the coastal states while respecting the sovereign and exclusive rights of coastal states, and the rules established by them in this regard for certain types of research".
Meetings of heads of the Caspian littoral states
The conference of the countries of the Tehran Convention will be held by the end of 2022 in Azerbaijan.
The Seventh Caspian Summit will be held in Iran.
The communiqué expresses gratitude to Turkmenistan for the high level of organization of the sixth Caspian summit and its hospitality.
Leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan attended the summit in Ashgabat.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS