Former state leaders, diplomats, and scholars called for a pan-Asia security architecture built by Asian countries during a meeting held in Beijing on Monday.

The first annual nongovernmental forum of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asiawas held in Beijing on Monday. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/ China.org.cn]

The meeting follows Chinese President Xi Jinping's call for a new Asian security concept during a summit held in Shanghai in 2014. Xi proposed a "common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable"security framework in Asia at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, an intergovernmental forum addressing security issues in Asia.

The new security concept was at that time seen by many as a step toward modifying the existing security arrangements in the region.

Xi's proposal was echoed during the first annual meeting of the CICA nongovernmental forum on Monday. Numerous participants noted that Asia is the only region where an expansive security platform has yet to be developed and where existing regional security mechanisms are built and largely dominated by countries outside the region.

The main actors in Asia's security issues are non-Asian countries, and all previous crises in Asia have been shaped by "external factors," said Yaşar Yakiş, former foreign minister of Turkey, during the meeting. He added that it is high time for Asian countries to take the lead and solve their problems by themselves.

With 67 percent of the world's population and 30 percent of global GDP, Asia has become the world's most dynamic region in recent years, but it has long struggled against both traditional and nontraditional security threats such as territorial disputes, terrorism, extremism and other thorny issues.

In order to actualize the new Asian security outlook and safeguard peace and stability in the region, Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, called for Asian countries to deepen political trust, promote security dialogues, enhance economic cooperation and cement people-to-people exchanges. Forum participants agreed that negotiation and dialogue are key to security in the region.

A number of forum attendees also praised China's efforts to maintain peace and security in the region, as the country has assumed more responsibilities along with its growing economic prowess over the years.

In his speech, former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai applauded China's approach to regional and global affairs, "particularly the new Asian security concept and the One Belt and One Road vision."

"This approach can help our countries rise above narrow national interests, and build a new regional and international security and economic order based on multilateralism, mutual respect, equity, dialogue and cooperation," Karzai noted.

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