Russia, Tajikistan to develop cooperation

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmon are interested in strengthening the traditional relations of friendship and strategic partnership, said a joint statement by the leaders posted on the Kremlin website. "Bilateral agreements reached at the top level create a firm foundation for further deepening and expanding mutually beneficial Russian-Tajik ties in various spheres of political, trade, economic, scientific and technological, humanitarian and military-technical cooperation," the statement said. Medvedev and Rakhmon also said they will continue interacting in the UN, OSCE, CIS, Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Eurasec. The two leaders praised counter-terrorist cooperation and said antiterrorism interaction should be boosted. On Friday, the presidents of Russia and Tajikistan agreed to prepare in early 2012 an agreement extending Russia's lease of a military base in Tajikistan by 49 years. Moscow and Dushanbe are currently in talks on the continued market-based lease of a base in Tajikistan by the Russian military. Talks to extend the lease beyond 2014 were held at the working-group level in August. Medvedev is on an official visit to the Central Asian country on Rakhmon's invitation.