BISHKEK. Nov 28 (Interfax) - The leaders of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) discussed additional measures for reducing tensions on the Tajik-Afghan border at a meeting in Bishkek, acting CSTO Secretary General Valery Semerikov told reporters on Thursday.
"The heads of state signed a decision on defusing tensions on the Tajik-Afghan border. This move stems from the need to expedite the drafting of a special-purpose program to guard the state border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan," Semerikov said.
"There is already a regulatory framework for 70% percent of this program," he said.
"Suggestions that may be included in this special-purpose program have been agreed. I hope that next year we will be able to submit it to the heads of our states to ensure its further implementation," he said.
"The threats coming from the territory of Afghanistan are prompting us to take preventive measures. We have conducted a series of exercises in the territory of Tajikistan, several operations to counter drug trafficking, and operations intended to shut down routes of entry to the territory of our states for members of different international terrorist organizations and persons who took part in hostilities in Syria and Iraq," Semerikov said.
The CSTO consists of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.