CSTO MPs to gather in Dushanbe to discuss military and political cooperation

Muhammadato Sultonov, a spokesman for the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament), says Vladimir Shamanov, the head of the State Duma (Russia’s lower chamber of parliament) Committee on Defense will preside over the session.

According to him, CSTO MPs will discuss the current military and political situation in the CSTO area of responsibility in the Central Asian region.  

CSTO deputy secretary-general will report on the state and prospects of further expansion of military and technical cooperation between the CSTO member nations. 

“Representative of the Working Group on Afghanistan at the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers will inform the session participants about activities of the Islamic State (IS) terror group and other terrorist organizations in Afghanistan and growing threat of export of extremism and terrorism to the CSTO area of responsibility,” Sultonov said.  

The session participants will discuss a number of draft documents, including recommendations on improvement of national laws of the CST member states on peacekeeping forces, recommendations on approximation of the national laws of confiscation of property in the interest of countering corruption, financing of terrorism and other types of crime, and the plan of work of CSTO Parliamentary Assembly (PA CSTO) for 2020, the Majlisi Namoyandagon spokesman said  

According to him, they are also scheduled to hold talks with senior representatives of Tajik parliament and visit Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan to observe the ongoing joint military drill for the CSTO peacekeeping forces.