MOSCOW, 18 February (BelTA) - Chairman of the CSTO Collective Security Council, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon met with CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas in Dushanbe on 18 February. During the meeting, Emomali Rahmon approved a plan of action presented by the secretary general to implement the decisions of the CSTO Collective Security Council session of 2 December 2020 and the priorities of Tajikistan's Presidency in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zainetdinov told BelTA.
“The plan provides for practical measures to promote political, military, economic and military-technical cooperation, cooperation in confronting the challenges and threats to the security of the CSTO member states," Stanislav Zas said. He noted that parts of the plan are dedicated to the crisis response, the CSTO peacekeeping activities and measures to reduce tensions on the Tajik-Afghan border. The document also provides for the coordination of the CSTO draft interstate program to strengthen the Tajik-Afghan section of the border.
The Tajikistan president emphasized the urgency of increasing cooperation within the CSTO to effectively counter the spread of the destructive radical ideologies in the CSTO zone of responsibility and to combat cybercrime and other ICT crimes," the spokesman said. The parties stressed the importance to step up work on the implementation of the Collective Security Council resolution “On the list of additional measures aimed at reducing tension in the Tajik-Afghan frontier area”, and to adopt a unified list of organizations recognized as terrorist in the CSTO.
While discussing international and regional agenda, the parties paid special attention to the situation in Afghanistan, and also the trend of rising global threats of terrorism, extremism, various forms of radicalism, and transnational organized crime, including drug trafficking. In this regard, Emomali Rahmon emphasized the relevance of enhancing the CSTO's capacities to effectively combat these risks and threats to security.
The Tajikistan head of state and the CSTO secretary general discussed the agenda of the next session of the Collective Security Council and meetings of statutory bodies - the Foreign Ministers Council, the Defense Ministers Council and the Committee of Security Council Secretaries - in Tajikistan in 2021, as well as a joint exercise with the CSTO Collective Rapid Response Forces Interaction 2021, a special exercise with the forces and means of intelligence Poisk 2021, a special exercise with the forces and means of logistical support of troops (collective forces) of the CSTO Echelon 2021. “The purpose of these exercises is to demonstrate the readiness of CSTO troops (collective forces) to respond to emerging security threats in the Tajik-Afghan frontier area,” Stanislav Zas said.
He added that the approved plan also includes steps to involve interested countries and international organizations in the activities of the CSTO as its observers and partners, to promote cooperation with the CIS and with the SCO.
