10:18,

DUSHANBE, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon said at the CSTO summit in Dushanbe that his country’s chairmanship of the military bloc coincided with a period of emergency challenges and threats facing the region.

The Tajik leader said that the member states of the organization were generally able to maintain high level of political partnership and ensure coordination of foreign political positions, and that inter-parliamentary partnership was expanded and the practice of adopting joint declarations on pressing issues continued. 

“We were able to complete the work of adopting the re-equipment program of the CSTO collective rapid reaction forces. This is a very important achievement. The respective decision will be adopted today. In terms of fulfilling objectives, the high level of readiness of the Collective Security Forces was maintained, which is extremely important, given the tense situation in neighboring Afghanistan,” President Rahmon said.

He added that during his country’s chairmanship the CSTO expanded contacts with international organizations. The organization has also advanced in developing its peacemaking potential, he said.

President Rahmon thanked CSTO member states for joint work and added that the CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas has a big role in all achievements.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan