DUSHANBE, April 1, Asia-Plus  -- International agreement on introduction of a common military education for member nations of the Collective Security Treaty Organization has been signed, Russia’s website www.arms-expo.ru reported on March 31.  

The Federation Council (Russia’s upper house of parliament) has ratified the agreement, the website said.  

The agreement provides for common principles of formation and development of the single system of training of the military personnel on certain disciplines under concerted training programs in special department at Russian higher military schools.  

According to the Tajik Ministry of Defense (MoD), some 500 Tajik cadets and officers currently study at higher military schools and academies in the Russian Federation.  

            CSTO is the regional security organization, which was initially formed in 1992 for a five-year period by member of the CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST) – Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, which were joined by Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Belarus the following year.  A 1994 treaty reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from use or threat of force, and prevented signatories from joining any other military alliances or other groups of states directed against member states.  The CST was then extended fro another five-year term in April 1999, and was signed by the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.  In October 2002, the group was renamed as the CSTO.