DUSHANBE, August 10, 2012, Asia-Plus – Increase in quota for Tajik cadets to study at higher military schools in the Russian Federation has figured in Russian deputy defense ministers’ discussions with high-ranking Tajik state officials in Dushanbe.

“Moscow has increased the number of seats in Russian military schools for Tajik cadets at the request of the Tajik authorities,” Russian Deputy Minister of Defense, Anatoly Antonov, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on August 9.

According to him, the number of Tajik cadets that will be sent to Russia this autumn to study various military discipline will be increased by some 20 percent.  “Some 150 Tajik military cadets will be sent to Russia this year,” Antonov said.

A Russian Ministry of Defense delegation, led by Anatoly Antonov, arrived in Dushanbe in the evening of August 7 for a two-day working visit.  On August 8, the delegation members held talks with Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oilov and Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi.  The prolongation of the Russian military base’s presence in Tajikistan was a major topic of the talks that were held behind closed doors.

Under the current 10-year lease signed in 2004, Russia gets exclusive use of three military bases and joint use of an air base in Tajikistan free of charge.  In all, there are more than 7,000 servicemen in three bases deployed in Dushanbe, Qurghon Teppa and Kulob.

The presence of Russian troops in Tajikistan reportedly accounts for Russia''s second-largest military contingent outside its own territory -- following only the 13,000-strong Black Sea Fleet in the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol.