China, Russia, and Iran have gathered with other Asian nations for an important meeting in Shanghai this week to discuss Asia's security and development. These are among the most significant issues in the region as China gets involved in several territorial disputes with its nearest neighbors.

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The Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is a gathering of Asian countries held once every four years. The gathering was first initiated by Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev and includes Israel, India and powerful non-Western non-democratic countries, according to Quartz.

This year's CICA participants include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, Cambodia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, India, Israel, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Palestine, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

Japan, which is the second-largest economy in Asia, is not included in the meeting. So are the Philippines, which is an ally of the US, and Indonesia, another nation with which China currently has a territorial spat.

Started in 1999 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the CICA aims to foster "confidence" and diplomacy among its member states. It is, however, just a stepping stone for its ultimate goal, which is military alignment among the said states.

This year's meeting will be held on the May 20^th and 21^st. Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani and United Nations (UN) general secretary Ban Ki-Moon will participate in the said summit.

Rouhani's attendance in the event is being seen as a subtle sign that the Islamic Republic is included in the center, rather than the periphery of the group's security discussions, according to a source cited by Chinese state media.

With Putin continuously pushing for closer ties with Asia, this principle is gaining more support. However, since some key players in the region are not included in this week's meeting, the discussions will most likely be not that decisive.