Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet Monday in Moscow with Foreign Minister of Tajikistan Sirodjiddin Mukhriddin, who will pay an official visit to the Russian capital.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said earlier at a briefing, the ministers will review a schedule of meetings and events at the highest and level until the end of this year, as well as significant aspects of the bilateral agenda. "Particular attention will be paid to trade, economic, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation, defense and security, migration policy, personnel training, joint measures in the field of biosecurity, including epidemiological challenges, and information security," the diplomat said.
In addition, Lavrov and Mukhriddin will discuss implementing the agreements reached during the recent contacts between the Presidents of Russia and Tajikistan, Vladimir Putin and Emomali Rahmon. The parties also plan to sign a cooperation program between the ministries of foreign affairs of the two countries for 2022-2023.
This year Russia and Tajikistan are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. As stated earlier in Moscow, since the first days of its independent existence, Tajikistan has been Russia's strategic partner and ally.
Moscow remains Dushanbe's leading foreign trade partner, accounting for about 21.3% of the republic's foreign trade. The total volume of accumulated Russian investments in the economy of this country is $1.6 billion or 16% of all foreign investments. More than 300 enterprises with Russian and joint capital operate in the republic, including subsidiaries of Gazprom, Vympelcom, Megafon and others.
Cooperation in the military and military-technical fields remains a key area of interaction between Moscow and Dushanbe. Russia's largest military facility outside of Tajikistan, the 201st Russian Military Base (RMB), is located in Tajikistan. It includes motorized rifle, tank, artillery, reconnaissance, air defense, and communications units. To ensure stability in the Central Asian region, the countries are implementing a bilateral program to modernize Tajikistan's Armed Forces, which runs through 2042. Joint exercises and personnel training are regularly conducted. In August it was reported that Russian military instructors of the 201st Military Base trained 1,000 junior specialists in 14 majors for the defense ministry of Tajikistan in 2022.
Russia and Tajikistan pay considerable attention to cooperation in education. There is a growing interest among its citizens to study the Russian language. This academic year, Russia has allocated 750 budgetary places for Tajik citizens to study at Russian universities, and the leaders of the two countries have agreed that the number of educational quotas for students from Tajikistan will soon increase to 1,000. On September 1, five Russian-language schools in Dushanbe, Bokhtar, Kulyab, Tursunzad and Khujand built by Russia were opened in the country.
The ministers will probably not ignore issues of cooperation in the field of migration policy. Labor migration remains in high demand both for hundreds of thousands of able-bodied citizens of Tajikistan and their families and for Russian employers. According to various estimates, about 1-1.5 million citizens of Tajikistan are currently working in Russia.
Regional subjects and security issues
The ministers are expected to pay special attention to the development of the situation in Afghanistan. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of military heads of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries on August 24 that the situation in Afghanistan, where international terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) and al-Qaeda (banned in Russia) are becoming more active, "remains a serious challenge to security in Central Asia." Against this background, Russia is increasing the combat readiness of its bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as other crisis response forces, Shoigu pointed out.
The Russia and Tajikistan foreign ministers are also likely to exchange views on the situation around Ukraine, with Lavrov briefing his counterpart on the progress of the special military operation to protect the Donbass republics.
The ministers are also expected to compare notes on other pressing topics on the regional agenda. Moscow and Dushanbe cooperate closely in international organizations such as the United Nations, the CIS, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the SCO, and their positions are close or coincide on key issues.
Discussions on biological security issues are also of particular relevance. Last month, Russia-Tajikistan consultations on biosafety were held in Dushanbe, following which the parties noted their common approaches to biosafety issues and expressed their intention to continue close coordination and cooperation in this area.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS