Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon plan to discuss regional security issues and the situation around the Tajik-Afghan border, TASS reports.
"We have a lot of issues related to maintaining security, I mean the difficult situation along your southern borders, in Afghanistan. We will talk about all that today," Putin said at a meeting with Rahmon.
The Russian leader also noted that the two leaders will have also have an opportunity to discuss various issues at the CIS summit in Dushanbe scheduled for September. "We will have an opportunity to see each other again in Dushanbe in September. I am glad to meet you today and to have an opportunity to continue our work in the future," Putin said.
For his part, Tajikistan’s president noted that he would like to discuss regional security issues with Putin, including the situation at the Tajik-Afghan border.
Putin stressed that Russia and Tajikistan are developing their strategic partnership. Russia continues to be the main trading and economic partner of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member-states followed by Kazakhstan and China. "The trade turnover grew more than 18% in the first quarter of this year, so vigorous efforts are underway," the Russian president said. According to Putin, Russian companies have invested nearly $2bln in Tajikistan’s economy. "We are modernizing the armed forces and train military personnel. As many as 500 military servicemen from your country are being trained at the Russian Defense Ministry’s institutions of higher learning," the head of state said.
Rahmon noted that this is the two leaders’ first meeting since Putin’s re-election. "I am glad to have another meeting with you," he said, adding that he would like to discuss certain aspects of strategic partnership between the two countries with the Russian president.