NUR-SULTAN. Aug 3 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan will extend military-technical assistance to Tajikistan after a relevant agreement enters into force, the Kazakh Defense Ministry told Interfax.
In a phone call, the Kazakh and Tajik defense ministers "discussed providing military-technical assistance in order to maintain security in areas adjacent to the Tajik-Afghan border," the Defense Ministry said.
"Agreements on extending free-of-charge military-technical assistance to Tajikistan were signed in April and July 2021. Procedures to enact them are currently being carried out," the ministry said in response to a question from Interfax.
"The possibility of sending a military contingent to Tajikistan is not currently under consideration," it said.
"Decisions on using the Armed Forces to fulfill international obligations to maintain peace and security are adopted by the parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan only if there are parties' official requests to this effect," the ministry said.
The Kazakh parliament is currently in recess until September.
The press service for the Kazakh Defense Ministry said on July 25, 2021 that Kazakh Defense Minister Nurlan Yermekbayev and his Tajik counterpart Sherali Mirzo had talked over the phone to discuss "the situation along the Tajik-Afghan border and the provision of assistance by Kazakhstan to Tajikistan in responding to existing risks and challenges."
A draft agreement to provide free-of-charge military-technical assistance to Tajikistan was published on the Kazakh Defense Ministry's website in June of this year.
Under the draft document, Kazakhstan plans to hand over more than three million 5.45mm cartridges, over 20,000 23mm cartridges, and 10,000 82mm mortar shells to Tajikistan.