DUSHANBE, November 11, 2014, Asia-Plus — Tajik Defense Minister, Lieutenant-General Sherali Mirzo, is participating in the 67th meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the CIS member nations that is being held in Moscow today.
Faridoun Mahmadaliyev, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan (MoD), says representatives of eight CIS member nations – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – are participating in the meeting.
Representatives from the CIS Executive Committee, CIS Anti-Terrorism Center, Coordinating Service of the CIS Council of Border Troops Commanders and Russia’s Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences are also attending the meeting.
The meeting participants are reportedly discussing the results of the work of the Council of Defense Ministers in 2014 and determining the Council’s tasks for 2015.
They will also discuss cooperation on exchange of geospatial information, methodological recommendations on assessment of radiation, chemical and biological situation, etc.
Established on December 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization. It now consists of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. Georgia pulled out of the organization in 2009.
The CIS Charter establishes the Council of Ministers of Defense, which is vested with the task of coordinating military cooperation of the CIS member states. To this end, the Council develops conceptual approaches to the questions of military and defense policy of the CIS member states; develops proposals aimed to prevent armed conflicts on the territory of the member states or with their participation; gives expert opinions on draft treaties and agreements related to the questions of defense and military developments; issues related suggestions and proposals to the attention of the CIS Council of the Heads of State. Also important is the Council”s work on approximation of the legal acts in the area of defense and military development.
