DUSHANBE, January 29. /TASS/. The implementation of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s program for strengthening Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan will ensure not only the security of the republic's territorial integrity, but also the security of entire Central Asia, CSTO Secretary-General Imangali Tasmagambetov said after a meeting with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon in Dushanbe.
He is certain that the importance of this program is very difficult to overestimate.
"Starting from this year the implementation begins. The program is designed for five years. The first year is very important to ensuring that in the following years this program acquire concrete features, such as supplies of weapons and military equipment to improve the Tajik-Afghan border," the Khovar news agency quoted Tasmagambetov as saying.
The CSTO Secretary-General expressed his conviction that thanks to joint efforts by the relevant agencies of Tajikistan and the CSTO Secretariat, the program will be fully implemented within five years.
"I should note that this program was adopted thanks to the efforts, first of all, of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rakhmon. Without his firm position, of course, this program would not have been adopted today," he added.
The program to strengthen the Tajik-Afghan border was approved by the CSTO Collective Security Council in November 2024 in Astana. Earlier, in an interview with TASS, Tasmagambetov said that the program included specific measures aimed at ensuring the security of the southern part of the organization's area of responsibility. He noted the "political will" of the leadership of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, who are aware of the scale of threats emanating from Afghanistan.
Tajikistan has a longer border with Afghanistan than any other Central Asian country - 1,344 kilometers - and borders its four northeastern provinces. In 2021, following the US decision to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, supporters of the radical Taliban (banned in Russia) took power in that country.