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Tajikistan to ratify agreement on Russian military base in autumn 2013

The 201st military base is the largest Russian land military base in foreign countries

NOVO-OGAREVO, August 1 (Itar-Tass) - Tajikistan will ratify an agreement over the deployment of a Russian military base in the country in the autumn of this year, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon said after the negotiations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin here on Thursday.

“Our attitude to this issue is very serious and we are determined decisively to fulfil the commitments we assumed. Therefore, this issue will be resolved in the autumn of this year, when several interdependent issues are settled and the parliamentary vacations are over,” the Tajik president said.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who attended the negotiations between the presidents of the two countries, told reporters that he hopes the document will be ratified at a next meeting of the autumn session of the Tajik parliament.

The agreement on the status and the terms of deployment of the Russian military base in Tajikistan was signed by the presidents of Russia and Tajikistan in October 2012. Russia ratified the agreement on May 7, 2013.

According to this document, the deployment of Russian servicemen in Tajikistan is extended for 49 years from the date the first agreement took effect on May 25, 1993, that is to say it is prolonged until 2042. The agreement provides an option to extend the agreement upon the expiry of this period of time.

The 201st military base is the largest Russian land military base in foreign countries. A total of 6,000 Russian soldiers and officers serve at the military base. The military base was formed “to maintain peace and order in Tajikistan and assist to the border troops and the Tajik Defence Ministry to fulfil their functions.”

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