DUSHANBE, September 1. /TASS/. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Russian leader Vladimir Putin discussed stronger cooperation to ensure regional security, trade development and energy cooperation at a meeting held on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Bishkek, the Tajik leader’s press service said.

"Issues related to the development of trade, entrepreneurship, investment and energy cooperation have topped the meeting’s agenda. Strengthening cooperation to ensure regional security and stability, including in countering the challenges and threats of the modern world, was one of the important topics of the conversation," it said in a statement published on the Tajik president’s website.

The sides also discussed cultural and humanitarian issues. In particular, they "expressed satisfaction with the pace of construction of the Center for the Development of Gifted Children and a new building for the Mayakovsky Theater in Dushanbe."

Rahmon and Putin also exchanged views on certain regional and global issues, the Tajik leader’s press service added.