What does Saudi Arabia's CICA membership mean for its Asia pivot?

Saudi Arabia became the newest observer state in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures (CICA) this week in as the Gulf state pivots toward China and Asia.

CICA’s Ministerial Council granted Saudi Arabia its observer status on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia’s participation will “increase the representation” of Gulf states in the forum, CICA announced in a statement. The forum added that Saudi Arabia “actively contributes to promoting multilateralism in Asia and in the rest of the world,” citing the kingdom’s membership in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

CICA is an intergovernmental forum focused on promoting peace, security and stability in Asia. The group was created by Kazakhstan in 1992, a year after the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union. Dozens of countries across the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia are members, including Israel, Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Russia, India and China. The United States is one of the observer states.