On Saturday July 24, Tajik Defense Minister Sherali Mirzo and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu held phone talks to discuss cooperation.
According to the press center of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) of the Russian Federation, they also discussed the situation along the Tajik-Afghan border and joint measures to address threats and challenges related to the deterioration of situation in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, a source within the power-wielding structure of Tajikistan says the two also discussed the progress of implementation of agreements reached between the presidents of the two countries on modernization of the Tajik national army and further expansion of military and technical cooperation between Tajikistan and Russia.
Mirzo and Shoigu also discussed issues related to joint military maneuvers that will be held by Tajikistan, Russia and Uzbekistan near the Tajik-Afghan border in early August this year, the source said.
According to him, military experts from Russian and Uzbekistan have already arrived in Tajikistan to discuss the issues of the joint military maneuvers that will be conducted at the Harbmaidon training ground in Khatlon province from August 5-10.
On July 25, Sherali Mirzo held a telephone conversation with his Kazakh counterpart Nurlan Yermekbayev.
The press center of the Defense Ministry of Kazakhstan says the two sides discussed the current situation along Tajikistan’s common border with Afghanistan and the assistance Kazakhstan will render to Tajikistan address existing threats and challenges.
They reportedly also discussed preparations for the upcoming meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member nations that will take place in Dushanbe.
It is to be noted that conditions in northern provinces of Afghanistan are more chaotic than ever as Afghan government forces, local militias, the Taliban militants have been battling for control of districts.
The rapid deterioration in the area in recent weeks has prompted the governments in the Central Asian states bordering Afghanistan to implement a range of measures designed to deal with a variety of possible developments in the current Afghan conflict.
Recall, Tajikistan in the early morning of July 22 put its entire armed forces on high alert for a combat-readiness check and relocated thousands of troops to the border with Afghanistan amid increasing security concerns in Central Asia over the Taliban's territorial gains in the northern part of Afghanistan. Tajikistan reportedly mobilized 100,000 active servicemen, 130,000 reserve officers and soldiers, as well as law enforcement agencies for the biggest such exercise in the 30-year history of independent Tajikistan.
