DUSHANBE, September 12, 2014, Asia-Plus — Tajik President Emomali Rahmon held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin here yesterday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
According to the Tajik president’s official website, the two discussed a broad range of issues related to bilateral cooperation between their countries in various fields.
They reportedly noted that cooperation between Tajikistan and Russia in strengthening peace and security in the Central Asian region and strengthening of Tajikistan’s common border with Afghanistan would have good results in the future as well.
A special attention was reportedly given to expansion of trade and economic cooperation between Tajikistan and the Russian Federation. Rahmon and Putin, in particular, discussed a government-to-government agreement on duty-free delivery of Russian oil products to Tajikistan and issues of regulation of labor migration.
Meanwhile, Russian news agency Itar-Tass reports that Putin regarded Tajikistan as “a very close partner and ally” and noted that the two countries had strategic relations. “As for bilateral relations, they are developing quite successfully. In January-July, trade turnover increased by more than 60%. This is a very impressive indicator,” he said at a meeting with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.
Today, President Putin is expected to meet separately with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the SCO summit to discuss bilateral ties.
According to the Tajik MFA, more than 230 interstate and government-to-government agreements regulating political, economic, military-and-technical, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation have been signed between Tajikistan and the Russian Federation since 1992.
Russia will take over the SCO presidency from Tajikistan at the end of the summit and will host the next summit in the city of Ufa next July.
