DUSHANBE, February 22, 2013, Asia-Plus – The Republic of Tajikistan is ready to provide its territory for transit of cargo of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, Davlat Nazriyev, head of the Tajik MFA information department, told journalists in Dushanbe on February 22.
“If any country applies to the Tajik authorities on this subject, the Tajik authorities will consider this application in accordance with established order,” the Tajik MFA spokesman said.
“To-date, the United Kingdom has applied to the Government of Tajikistan on the issue of transit of its cargo through Tajik territory,” said Nazriyev. “In this connection, the United Kingdom has submitted an appropriate draft agreement for consideration of the Tajik side.”
We will recall that British Ambassador to Tajikistan, Mr. Robin Jeremy Ord-Smith, recently met here with Tajik Minister of Transport Nizom Hakimov to discuss these issues.
The Ministry of Transport (MoT)’s press center reports the sides discussed issues related to signing of a government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and the United Kingdom (UK) on transit route for the withdrawal of British troops and military property from Afghanistan.
The sides reportedly also considered the issue of speeding up the signing of a government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and the United Kingdom on an air communications between the two countries.
British Prime Minister David Cameron stated in December last year that the UK will withdraw nearly 4,000 troops from Afghanistan in 2013.
According to Financial Times (FT), the prime minister’s announcement marks the start of the withdrawal of all UK combat troops from Afghanistan before the end of 2014. The cut in UK forces means that Britain will remove nearly half of the 9,500 troops serving in Afghanistan by December 2013.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Nick Harvey, was in Tajikistan in March 2012 to discuss with Tajik leaders possible transit routes for the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan in 2014.
Harvey told journalists in Dushanbe after talks on March 2 that a proposed route for the troops” withdrawal would go through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, and therefore the cooperation between the three Central Asian countries is needed.
According to Harvey, members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) could leave behind some of their equipment in Afghanistan and possibly in the three Central Asian countries.
