DUSHANBE, October 19, 2012, Asia-Plus – A ceremonial meeting dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the border cooperation group of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in Tajikistan took place at the Mayakovsky Russian Drama Theater in Dushanbe on October 19.

Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Yuri Popov and the commander of the Russian border officials in Tajikistan (FSB border cooperation group) inaugurated the meeting.

Speaking at the meeting, head of the State Committee for National Security (GKNB) of Tajikistan, Saymumin Yatimov, noted, “Russia’s presence in Tajikistan has always been of historical significance for our country.”

We will recall that Russian border guards controlled the Tajik-Afghan border for more than 100 years before handing over responsibility to their Tajik colleagues in 2005. But Russian border-guard advisers continue to be deployed on Tajikistan''s borders.

Tajik and Russian border guards discussed a new draft agreement on border cooperation issues in 2011.  Negotiations that were conducted between Tajik and Russian border services last year focused on the status and tasks of Russian border-guard advisers.  

The agreement that was signed by President Emomali Rahmon and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Dushanbe on September 2, 2011, in particular, provides for keeping Russia’s presence in Tajikistan through the FSB group of the border-guard cooperation in Tajikistan, participation of Russian representatives in improving the border control system and ensuring border security of Tajikistan, training of personnel for Tajik border service as well as cooperation in countering terrorism, religious extremism, illegal migration and transnational organized crime.  The agreement is reportedly signed for five years with automatic prolongation for the next five-year period.

Russia’s upper house (Federation Council) ratified the Russian-Tajik agreement on border cooperation issues on February 22 this year and Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament ratified the document on February 29.