DUSHANBE, June 13, 2009, Asia-Plus — President Emomali Rahmon will attend a session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Organization (CSTO) that will be held in Moscow on June 14.
According to press release issued by the CSTO Secretariat, the CSTO heads of state will sign an agreement on creation of the CSTO Rapid-Reaction Force. The agreement will specify procedure of formation, training and use of the rapid-reaction force intended for countering threats to security within the CSTO area.
As it had been reported earlier, Russia will commit an airborne division and an air-assault brigade to the collective rapid-reaction force and Kazakhstan will commit an airborne brigade to the force. Other member nations of the organization, including Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will be represented by a battalion each.
We will recall that the presidents of member nations of the CSTO gathered in Moscow on February 4 this year to sign a pact on creation of the joint rapid-reaction force. Uzbek President Islam Karimov signed the pact with reservations, agreeing to commit Uzbek forces not permanently but on a mission-to-mission basis.
The force is dedicated to defend member nations against foreign military aggression; perform special operations to counter terrorism, and drug trafficking; and help in times of natural disasters. The new rapid-reaction force will have a permanent joint command and a permanent joint base, whereas the units of the existing collective forces are under national command and are based separately.
The current system of collective security, which is based on the regional principle, includes three regional military groups: Russian-Belarus group (Eastern European group); Russian-Armenian group (Caucasian group); and Central Asian group.
