DUSHANBE, March 16, 2011, Asia-Plus — A two-day meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Working Group on Afghanistan has opened in Dushanbe today.
Inaugurating the meeting, the CSTO Secretary Nikolai Bordyuzha noted that events that had taken place in southern Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan showed that instability in Afghanistan affected the state of affairs within the CSTO area.
“That is why our countries are interested in provision of stability in Afghanistan. It must be provided soon and at the highest level,” Bordyuzha stated.
According to him, possession by Tajikistan’s power-wielding structures of in-depth information about the latest developments in Afghanistan allows assessing the trends in that country more seriously.
“Taking this into account, we must develop additional measures and proposals for heads of state and foreign ministers of the CSTO nations for more intensive and substantial influence to promote stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan. The level of security of our nations depends on this,” the CSTO secretary general stressed.
He noted that during the first day of the meeting a number of meetings with heads of appropriate bodies of Tajikistan would be held in order “to get information about the developments in Afghanistan.”
Tomorrow, the meeting participants will discuss the situation in Afghanistan, measures to provide security of Central Asia’s nations and address threats and challenges emanating from Afghanistan,” Bordyuzha noted.
Tomorrow, the meeting will also consider possible steps to strengthen coordination of activities of the antiterrorism and counternarcotics agencies on the Afghan direction and provide support for strengthening of the Tajik-Afghan border management and control, including use of modern technical means, he added.
The CSTO set up its Working Group on Afghanistan in 2005. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted in November 2005 that the CSTO foreign ministers agreed that threats, including drug and terrorist menaces, have persisted largely due to the situation in Afghanistan, which has remained tense. “We studied the situation and decided to set up a body, a working group, to monitor developments and ensure opinion exchanges with our Afghan colleagues,” Lavrov said.
We will recall that the CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha arrived in Dushanbe Tuesday evening. On March 14-15, the CSTO secretary general was on two-day visit in the Tajik northern Sughd province. During his stay in Dushanbe, Bordyuzha is scheduled to hold a number of meetings with high-ranking Tajik state officials and senior representatives from a number of international organizations active in Tajikistan. CSTO secretary-general’s visit to Tajikistan will conclude on March 18.
