Presided over by Tajikistan, a joint meeting of concerned ministries and agencies of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member nations took place in Moscow on February 27 – March 1. 

The CSTO press center says one of the topics of the meeting was a draft target program to strengthen Tajikistan’s common border with Afghanistan.   

CSTO Deputy Secretary-General Valery Semerikov and Russia’s Security Council Deputy Secretary Aleksei Shevtsov reportedly addressed the meeting.

Speaking at the meeting, Valery Semerikov, in particular, expressed confidence that there is every opportunity to reach agreed solutions on the draft target program.   .

The meeting participants reportedly finalized the draft target program and the CSTO bodies’ draft decisions on this program.

They reportedly reached an agreement on submitting the mentioned draft documents for consideration to the CSTO Permanent Council to make a decision on sending them for additional approval to the Organization’s member nations. 

CSTO Permanent Council is the body that deals with issues coordinating the interaction of Member States in the implementation of decisions taken by the organs of the Organization in the period between sessions of the Council.  

The Permanent Council consists of Permanent and Plenipotentiary Representatives, appointed by the Member States in accordance with their internal procedures, and acts in accordance with the Regulations.  

Tajikistan’s Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin had previously said that Tajikistan expects the border fortifying plan to be approved in 2024.

Recall, the previous meeting to discuss implementation of the draft target program to strengthen the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border took place under the chairmanship of Tajikistan in Moscow on December 20-21 last year.    

On January 24-27 this year, Valery Semerikov, heading the CSTO delegation made a working visit to Tajikistan.  During his working trip, Valery Semerikov held talks with the First Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of Tajikistan Sharaf Faizullozoda, the Chairman of the Emergencies Committee under the Government Rustam Nazarov, the Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Tajikistan Jamshed Saidzoda and a delegation from the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan (SCNS). The meetings reportedly issues of cooperation within the CSTO.  Following consultations between the Secretariat delegation and representatives of the Working Group of the SCNS Main Border Guard Directorate, draft documents related to the CSTO the CSTO Special Interstate Policy for strengthening sections of the Tajik-Afghan Border were finalized, according to the CSTO Secretariat. 

The Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization now includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Armenia suspended its participation in the CSTO.  "Today, in practice, we have frozen our participation in this treaty, in this organization.  As for what comes next, we shall have to see," Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told French television France24 in an interview on February 23.  Pashinyan said the CSTO has failed to fulfill its objectives “as far as Armenia is concerned, particularly in 2021 and 2022. And we could not let that happen without taking notice.”