MOSCOW. Dec 27 (Interfax) - Afghanistan may turn into an exporter of international terrorism and extremism in a greater amount than it was before the international forces were sent there, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said.
"Not to mention that Afghanistan remains a source of tension in the region, it may turn into an active exporter of international terrorism and religious extremism, and their scale may be greater than it was before the international forces were sent there," Patrushev said in an interview to be published in the Friday issue of Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
Therefore, "it is in our best interests to continue to provide assistance to Afghanistan in training military servicemen and policemen and implementing regional and national infrastructural projects that could promote the republic's economic development," he said.
"The security situation in Afghanistan is still far from stable," he said.
"There is no confidence that the Afghan authorities will be able to hold presidential elections as planned in April 2014," he said.
Drug trafficking from Afghanistan is closely related to the financing of international terrorism and remains a serious threat as well, Patrushev said.
"Despite statements by our Western and Afghan partners on the expansion of the work on the anti-drug track, the level of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is increasing steadily," he said.
"And the situation in this area may complicate, as some states are trying to treat assistance in combating the transit of drugs as a pretext for expanding and consolidating their presence there," he said.
"It is in our interests to minimize the consequences of the international coalition forces' withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014 for stability in the Asian countries of the CIS," Patrushev said.
"In the context of the threats, the need to reinforce borders and improve the efficiency of border control assumes primary importance. The matter is chiefly about the reinforcement of the Tajik-Afghan border," he said.