Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov opens his working week with a visit to Dushanbe, where he arrived the night before on an official visit. On Tuesday, the Russian foreign minister is expected to be received by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and will hold talks with his counterpart Sirojiddin Mukhriddin.
Lavrov and Mukhriddin met in April on the margins of multilateral ministerial meetings in Samarkand. Uzbekistan's third most populous city hosted ministerial-level talks of Afghanistan's neighbors, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the Russia-Central Asia format over two days. It is noteworthy that Moscow and Dushanbe are engaged in a close dialogue in all these formats, and therefore the topics of regional security and threats from Afghanistan, the US military-biological activity in the CIS, as well as the Tajik-Kyrgyz settlement will be on the agenda of the current bilateral meetings in Dushanbe.
The Russian foreign ministry announced that bilateral relations in the political, trade and economic and humanitarian spheres will also be discussed. Particular attention will be paid to further deepening of coordination between the two countries in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the CIS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), as well as the UN, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
Samarkand's insights
One of the most sensitive topics in Samarkand was the activity of terrorist groups in Afghanistan and the threats to regional stability. Then, following the informal meeting, the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran, China, and Pakistan expressed serious concern about this problem and called on the provisional Taliban government (the Taliban is banned in Russia) to take "visible and verifiable measures to fulfill its declared obligations in the fight against terrorism, destruction and elimination of various types of terrorist groups." In addition, Lavrov noted, "there is reason to believe that some Western colleagues have a hand in this encouragement of terrorist activities [in Afghanistan]." It is possible that in Dushanbe, the ministers will consider all aspects of this issue in detail.
The Samarkand challenges were no less acute in the broader regional context, namely in the space of the entire CIS. Then Lavrov informed his partners about the special military operation in Ukraine and noted the West's increasing attempts to interfere in the affairs of the Commonwealth. It is to be expected that the foreign ministers will devote time to the Ukrainian crisis during the current contacts as well as to the problems of countering the US military-biological activities in the CIS region and the Western pressure on Moscow's partners.
Border dispute
In addition to external threats, regional stability in Central Asia and the CIS also faces internal contradictions of individual countries. In particular, the unresolved border dispute between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan remains one of these issues. The length of the state border between the two countries is about 980 km. Negotiations on its delimitation have been going on since December 2002. Failure to resolve this issue has repeatedly led to conflicts involving local residents and soldiers of the two republics, including with the use of firearms. The most recent occurred in early fall 2022.
Moscow has consistently advocated an early and final settlement of the border dispute between Dushanbe and Bishkek and has recorded some progress on this issue. At the III Central Asian conference of the Valdai Discussion Club in May, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin noted with satisfaction "the positive dynamics of this process." He also noted that Russia and the CSTO remain "single guarantors of security."
The key elements of this security are Russian military bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is likely that Lavrov's visit to the 201st Russian military base, which marked its 80th anniversary on June 1, will serve as a good opportunity to compare notes on the parties' work toward resolving border disputes in the region.
Humanitarian and cultural cooperation
Moscow and Dushanbe are engaged in no less active dialogue in the fields of economics and culture. During a video conference at the extended meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, President Rahmon noted Tajikistan's interest in creating joint ventures and industrial parks with the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), and suggested that the member states jointly develop the republic's hydroelectric resources. The leader of Tajikistan also initiated the development of a mechanism to facilitate the supply of the country's agricultural products to the EEU markets. It is expected that Lavrov's visit will be used by the political leadership of the republic to clarify Moscow's position on these issues.
Humanitarian and cultural cooperation remains important. Thus, according to Galuzin, work is now underway to open branches of leading Russian institutions of higher education in the countries of Central Asia. Moreover, the issue of expanding the quota for citizens of these states to study in Russia is under active consideration. It is likely that this issue will not be left without attention at the upcoming talks. It is possible that the sides may also touch on certain incidents against Tajik citizens in Russia, in particular cases of mass detentions and allegedly cruel treatment.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS