DUSHANBE, August 9, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- A quadripartite meeting of the leaders of Tajikistan, Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan is expected to take place in Russian president’s residence in Sochi on August 19, Asia-Plus has learned from the source at the Tajik government.

Emomali Rahmon (Tajikistan), Hamid Karzai (Afghanistan), Asif Ali Zardari (Pakistan) and Dmitry Medvedev (Russia) will discuss regional issues and the most topical aspects of cooperation between their countries.  No documents are expected to be signed during the quadripartite summit in Sochi, the source added.

We will recall that on July 30, 2009, the leaders of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Dushanbe.  Rahmon called the quadripartite meeting in Dushanbe a logical continuation of the trilateral talks of the leaders of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan and expressed hope that rational use of rich resources and opportunities of Russia and the three countries would promote finding solution to many regional problems.  The most pressing topic of the meeting of the leaders of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in Dushanbe was security, with the Tajik, Afghan, and Pakistani presidents pledging to work more closely to combat the regional problems of terrorism and narcotics trafficking.  The Afghan and Pakistani presidents accepted Tajik President Emomali Rahmon''s proposal to create a regional antinarcotics center.  The three also vowed to speed up work on constructing or repairing roads and railway links to connect the three countries.