Asia Plus: Russia strengthens its military presence in Tajikistan.

Moscow strengthens its influence in Central Asia. Vladimir Putin announced the expansion of military cooperation with Tajikistan, and the Russian base in that country – the largest outside the Russian Federation – was additionally equipped with modern equipment.

The Russian military base in Tajikistan is simply a key component of safety in the region," stated Russian president Vladimir Putin during a gathering with Tajikistan's president Emomali Rachmon on 9 October. Putin stressed that Russia has made a crucial contribution to maintaining peace in Central Asia. He pointed out that Moscow is actively cooperating with Dushanbe in defence, military-technical cooperation and in the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking. He besides added that Russia is ready to further grow its partnership with Tajikistan.

"201st Russian military base stationed in the country is 1 of the safety guarantors of Tajikistan and the full region" – said Putin, quoted by the news agency TASS.

Prior to that, the leaders had a private discussion during which they discussed key issues of bilateral cooperation. Putin pointed out that the gathering allowed to rise the most crucial topics and thanked Rachmon for his cordial reception.

Russia has consistently strengthened its military presence in Tajikistan. The day before the gathering of Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov with the authorities in Dushanbe, the head of the department visited Russian military facilities in that country. Belousov stressed that military cooperation between Russia and Tajikistan plays a key function in ensuring safety in Central Asia.

On 6 December last year 201st Russian military base in Tajikistan received 30 upgraded T-72B3M tanks equipped with a fresh propulsion system, protection system, Akveduk communications strategy and Sosna-U thermal imagination sight. The base's anti-aircraft defence unit was reinforced with Werba rocket systems, Kornet anti-tank missiles, Kord sniper rifles, AK-12 assault rifles, and increased scope flamethrowers. On the same day, the personnel of the base practiced repelling the raid utilizing the S-300PS rocket system.

According to Chief of General Staff Walerij Gierasimov, Russia has this year accelerated arms shipments to Central Asian countries due to the escalation of tensions and the request to practice responding to terrorist threats. erstwhile Minister of Defence Sergey Szojgu stated that the base could be utilized in the event of aggression from Afghanistan, controlled by a long-banned RussiaOrganisationTaliban.

The base, located in Dushanbe and Bochtara, is the largest Russian military base outside the country. It houses reconnaissance units, defence against radiological, chemical and biological weapons, as well as communications, motorized infantry, tanks, artillery and air defense.

In October, the Fachrabad camp in Tajikistan will host the "Indestructible Brotherhood 2025" exercise with the participation of the peacekeeping forces of the Organization of the Collective safety Agreement. More than 5,000 soldiers and about a 1000 weapons and equipment units will participate.

Source: Asia Plus

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