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CSTO to roll out draft plan for strengthening southern border by July — secretary general

The draft program has been approved by the CSTO Permanent Council and submitted to relevant agencies in member countries for coordination, Imangli Tasmagambetov said

Secretary General of the CSTO Imangali Tasmagambetov Valery Sharifulin/TASS

Secretary General of the CSTO Imangali Tasmagambetov

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is planning to present the results of its work on a program of strengthening its southern border before July, CSTO Secretary General Imangli Tasmagambetov told TASS in an interview.

"Quite active work is ongoing to adopt the CSTO’s Target Interstate Program to strengthen sections of the Tajik-Afghan border," Tasmagambetov said. "It includes specific measures aimed at ensuring the security of the CSTO’s southern zone of responsibility," he added. According to him, delegates from ministries and agencies concerned in CSTO member countries and members of the working group to finalize the program held a meeting in late February - early March.

The draft program has been approved by the CSTO Permanent Council and submitted to relevant agencies in member countries for coordination, the CSTO secretary general said as he highlighted the political will of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the two CSTO member countries which he said realize the scale of threats being posed by Afghanistan. "We very much hope that the [CSTO] Secretariat will be able to present the results of that work in the first six months of this year," he concluded.

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