DUSHANBE, July 30, 2014, Asia-Plus – Russian news agency Itar Tass reports that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Tajik counterpart Sirojiddin Aslov are expected to discuss bilateral relations development and situation in Afghanistan.
Lavrov is paying a return visit to Tajikistan, as the Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Aslov visited Russia in March 2014.
The parties reportedly plan to discuss the further deepening of strategic partnership, based on mutual trust and respect for the interests of each other and friendship of the two brotherly nations.
Lavrov and Aslov will also exchange views on important international agenda issues, including the situation in Afghanistan and its impact on Central Asian security, as well as on other matters of mutual interest.
The ministers will also analyze the situation in bilateral trade with a view to forming the maximally favorable “climate” for business activity of Russian and Tajikistani companies on the two countries’ markets, as well as will discuss bilateral co-operation in the spheres of science, education, culture, learning of the Russian language in Tajikistan, and labor migration.
Lavrov’s visit to Tajikistan is being held on the eve of a meeting of the foreign ministers of the member nations of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO) in Dushanbe on July 30 – 31.
The Russian Foreign Ministry says that relations between Russia and Tajikistan are characterized by the intensification of co-operation in many spheres. The agreements between the two countries’ presidents on the status and terms of deployment of the Russian military base in Tajikistan have come into force. The implementation of the agreements, improving the conditions of registration and labor activity of Tajikistani citizens in Russia has started.
The Russian Foreign Ministry notes that the above agreements are a tangible result of the visits of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Dushanbe in October 2012, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to Moscow in July – August 2013, as well as their meeting in Sochi on February 6, 2014.
