DUSHANBE. Nov 17 (Interfax-AVN) - The first bilateral consultations on defense issues between the U.S. and Tajik governments took place in Washington, the U.S. embassy in Dushanbe told Interfax on Wednesday.
"First in the series of planned negotiations are focusing on the issues of defense and security. They cover the subjects of military cooperation, defense, border security, military contacts and other fields of cooperation in Central Asia," said the embassy.
The Tajik delegation is lead by the deputy defense minister, Major General Vyacheslav Grudin. Representatives of the Tajik National Guard, the National Border Security Committee and the Emergency Situations and Civil Defense Ministry also took part.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov and the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Advisor Laura Kennedy discussed the issues of aid to Tajikistan in the military sector on Tuesday.
"We discussed the issues of border security and U.S. help to Tajikistan in this field," Kennedy told journalists after the meeting with the president. She also said that the U.S. intends to increase their help in training qualified specialists border servicemen for Tajikistan.