Tajikistan seeks 'review' of Russia base accord: report
Tajikistan is pushing for a "review" of agreements allowing Russia to base troops in the strategic Central Asian state bordering Afghanistan, a Russian newspaper reported on Friday.
Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon "is attempting to get review or refinement of most of its important agreements with Moscow" and will push this line when he visits Moscow on Tuesday, the daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta said.
"One of these concerns terms for the presence of a Russian military base in Tajikistan," the daily added, without citing the source of its information.
The report was published the same day Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed into law that country's decision to close a key US airbase that has served as a vital supply base for troops in Afghanistan.
It also coincided with the announcement in Dushanbe by a senior US military official that Washington had secured approval from Tajikistan for transit through its territory of non-lethal supplies for US forces in Afghanistan.
"The example set by Kyrgyzstan, which managed not just to get payment for the Russian 'Kant' air base but also other preferences from Russia, turned out to be contagious for Dushanbe," Nezavisimaya Gazeta commented.
Tajikistan, long the poorest of the ex-Soviet republics, has been swamped in recent months by the effects of the global economic crisis.
The country is also desperate to find new sources of income as tens of thousands of Tajik workers who formed the backbone of the construction labor force in Russia during the boom of recent years return home jobless.
US President Barack Obama this week authorized deployment of an additional 17,000 US troops to Afghanistan and has identified US efforts to counter a resurgence by Taliban forces in that country as a top priority.
Less time to read?
Try Quickreads
-
In a major shift, Nato identifies China as a systemic challenge
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) on Wednesday for the first time in its history recognised China's “stated ambitions and coercive policies” as a threat to the alliance's interests, security and values in a sign of the rapid shift in European geopolitical attitudes. The much-anticipated strategic concept, the first since 2010, was released during a historic Nato summit in Madrid that saw the participation of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Korea.
-
'If Putin were a woman...': UK PM Boris Johnson on Ukraine war
Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have started the war in Ukraine if he was a woman, said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday days after G7 members mocked the bare-chested pictures of the Russian leader. During his interview, the British PM also emphasized that everyone wants the Russia-Ukraine war to end. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked other leaders sitting around a table. "We all have to show that we're tougher than Putin."
-
South Korea approves first homemade Covid-19 vaccine
Health officials in South Korea on Wednesday approved the country's first domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine for people 18 years or older, adding another public health tool in the fight against a prolonged pandemic.
-
Sri Lankans struggle for petrol due to fuel shortage, demonstrations to continue
Sri Lankan doctors and other medical staff as well as teachers will take to the streets on Wednesday to demand that the government solve a severe fuel shortage at the heart of the South Asian country's worst economic crisis in decades. The government, left with only enough fuel to last about a week, on Tuesday restricted supplies to essential services, like trains, buses and the health sector, for two weeks.
-
TTP says no breakthrough in talks with Pak General
The chief of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has said there won't be a dissolution of or surrender by the group even if the peace talks with the Pakistan government succeeds. In a video released by TTP, its chief, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, who has been leading the peace talks for the group, revealed that former Director-General of ISI and Core Commander Peshawar (Gen) Faiz Hameed has been representing the Pakistan government.
