DUSHANBE
, June 16, Asia-Plus – On the sidelines of his visit to
China
[on June 14-15] to attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov held a number of bilateral meetings.
President Rahmonov conferred with his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, Thursday afternoon following the summit, presidential press service reported.
Their talks focused on state and prospects of further expansion of cooperation between
Tajikistan
and
Afghanistan
. The two considered issues related to economic cooperation between the two countries and reconstruction of
Afghanistan
’s economy. Rahmonov and Karzai also discussed joint efforts in fighting drug trafficking.
On the same day, Rahmonov met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on issues of mutual interests.
During the meeting Rahmonov described the cultural commonalities between
Tajikistan
and
Iran
as an eternal identify, which further bolsters ties between the two nations. Referring to the upcoming visit of the Iranian president to
Tajikistan
, Rahmonov said
Tajikistan
eagerly welcomed
Iran
’s cooperation in the country’s developing. According to IRNA, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will pay the visit to
Tajikistan
to inaugurate the Anzob tunnel. Rahmonov also expressed hope that a summit between
Tajikistan
,
Iran
and
Afghanistan
sharing common language would be held in
Dushanbe
in near future.
For his part, the Iranian president noted that cultural, linguistic, religious and historical commonalties between the two countries have created grounds for further expansion of cooperation between the two nations. He voiced the readiness of
Iran
to undertake joint projects for construction of roads, tunnels, dams and power stations in
Tajikistan
. Since
Iran
,
Tajikistan
and
Afghanistan
enjoy common language, it is vital to further broaden cultural ties in a bid to promote Persian language, Ahmadinejad pointed out.