MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - Russia will start supplying large quantities of weapons to Tajikistan in 2017, Russian Defense Minister Gen. of the Army Sergei Shoigu said.
"Next year we will probably see the start of the key phase in our military-technical cooperation - shipments of weapons and military hardware, in particular, a large amount of aviation equipment, aircraft and helicopters. I think all this will be carried out as planned and on time. And of course, [this] will contribute to stability in the region," Shoigu said at a meeting with his Tajik counterpart Lieut. Gen. Sherali Mirzo.
Russia is training more medium-rank and junior Tajik officers in Moscow, Shoigu also said. "Over a thousand specialists are already training and have been trained. We will continue this work, of course, especially given our awareness of all the risks that exist, such as the arrival of ISIL and of other terrorist organizations in Afghanistan," the minister said.
"And here, as ever, together with you, we will be fighting against this evil that is called international terrorism," Shoigu said.
The Tajik defense minister promised that "the southern borders of our Commonwealth will be reliably protected."
The two defense ministers signed a plan for cooperation between their ministries in 2017. What the two countries' defense ministries have accomplished in 2016 will serve to continue and strengthen the cooperation in the region, the Russian defense minister said. "A region that is complicated and alarming, and of course what you are doing to maintain security on the Afghan border, we support this. And we will try to do everything for the plans that we had and have, of reinforcing our 201st base and of strengthening the international forces, to be absolutely implemented," Shoigu said.