MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) - Tashkent intends to build international cooperation in security bilaterally and without joining any military and political alliances, head of the Uzbek Senate committee on international affairs Sadik Safayev said.
Uzbekistan currently does not consider the possibility of resuming its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the membership in which it suspended in 2012 regardless of the variety of threats that may emerge following the withdrawal of Western coalition forces from Afghanistan, Safayev said in an interview with the Voice of Russia radio station.
"In 2012 our Senate approved the concept of Uzbekistan's international activities. It stipulates that Uzbekistan does not participate in any military and political alliances but attaches great importance to developing ties bilaterally. Our main priority in the security sphere and military and technical cooperation is developing cooperation with Russia. I think that we will proceed from this in the future as well," the senator said.
"We do realize that Afghanistan must not be forgotten, otherwise it will again become the free harbor for international terrorists all over the world," Safayev said.