DUSHANBE, October 10, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- Russian Minister of Interiors Vladimir Kolokoltsev heading a delegation of the Russian Interior Ministry arrived in Dushanbe yesterday evening.

The purpose of the visit is for the delegation to participate in the14th joint board meeting of the ministers of interior of Tajikistan and Russia that is opening in Dushanbe today.

According to the Tajik Interior Ministry’s press center, the Russian delegation members include Deputy Interior Ministers Yuri Alekseyev, Mikhail Vanichkin, Arkady Gostev, Igor Zubov, Segey Gerasimov, and Viktor Kiryanov as well as the Main Criminal Investigation Directorate Head Viktor Golovanov, the Main Extremism Prevention Directorate Head Timour Valiyulin, the Organizational and Analytical Department Head Aleksandr Gorelov, etc.

Co-chaired by interior ministers of both countries, the meeting is reportedly discussing issues related to expansion of further cooperation.

This joint board meeting is considering bilateral cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of the two countries in preventing crime, addressing extremism and fighting transnational crime groups.

The meeting will also discuss a draft plan of work of the joint board meeting of the interior ministries of Tajikistan and Russia for 2013.

Tajik and Russian interior ministries have held the joint board meeting annually since 1998.