DUSHANBE, September 12, 2012, Asia-Plus — Negotiations on a possible prolongation of Russian military base’s deployment in Tajikistan that started in Dushanbe on Wednesday are continuing today.
We will recall that a Russian Ministry of Defense delegation, led by Deputy Defense Minister Anatolyy Antonov is in Dushanbe for talks with Tajik officials on the future of Russia’s military base here.
The negotiations are being conducted at the Kokhi Vahdat State Complex in Dushanbe and a Tajik delegation is headed by Minister of Justice Rustam Mengliyev.
An official source at the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan says the negotiations are being held behind closed doors.
“The sides are discussing the final version of the agreement on the military base that has been worked out after numerous negotiations,” the source said. He refrained from giving further details.
We will recall that a source close to the Russian diplomatic mission in Dushanbe told Asia-Plus in early September that the Russian side hopes that an agreement between Russia and Tajikistan on the prolongation of the Russian military base’s presence in Tajikistan will be signed during a visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tajikistan, which is scheduled for early October. According to him, Russia offers Tajikistan to extend term of the agreement on the Russian military base for ten years.
Official Dushanbe has been at odds with Moscow lately on the issue of the prolongation of the Russian military base’s presence in Tajikistan.
After talks in Dushanbe with President Emomali Rahmon in April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that the lease for the three Russian-controlled garrisons in Tajikistan, which shares a poorly secured border with Afghanistan, would be extended by 49 years.
On July 17, Tajikistan”s Foreign Ministry denied a statement by the Russian Army’s Ground Forces commander, General Vladimir Chirkin that Dushanbe has allegedly accepted the Kremlin’s demands for “for no-fee operations,” allowing the base to be used by Russia for further 49 years, as baseless.
Under the current 10-year lease signed in 2004, Russia gets exclusive use of three military bases and joint use of an air base in Tajikistan free of charge. In all, there are more than 7,000 servicemen in three bases deployed in Dushanbe, Qurghon Teppa and Kulob.
