DUSHANBE, February 5 2012, Asia-Plus -- Russia is waiting for reply from the Tajik authorities regarding extension of the Russian military base deployment terms, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister/State Secretary Grigory Karasin said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

RIA Novosti quoted Karasin as saying that on the presence of the Russian military base in Tajikistan, Russia continues following an agreement between the Russian Federation and Tajikistan on the status and terms of presence of the Russian military base in Tajikistan that remains in effect until October 2014.

“The Ministry of Defense of Russia jointly with other agencies has worked out a draft agreement between Russia and Tajikistan on the status of the Russian military base in Tajikistan and the document was sent for consideration to the Tajik side in late November 2011,” said Karasin, “We are currently waiting for response form our partners.”

We will recall that Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev signed an agreement on cooperation in guarding Tajikistan''s frontier with Afghanistan and discussed extending Russia''s use of military facilities in Tajikistan in Dushanbe in September 2011.

The two presidents watched as another agreement on cooperation in securing Tajikistan''s southern border was signed by Russia''s Federal Security Service and Tajikistan''s State Committee for National Security.  Rahmon and Medvedev also agreed to sign a formal agreement early 2012 extending the presence of Russia''s 201st Division in Tajikistan for another 49 years.