Tajik defense minister lauds CIS air defense cooperation
DUSHANBE. April 7 (Interfax-AVN) - Tensions have been escalating in the Eurasian geopolitical space, Tajik Defense Minister Sherali Mirzo said at a meeting of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers' Air Defense Coordination Committee in Dushanbe on Tuesday.
"The situation in the Eurasian geopolitical space has not been easy, and it tends to deteriorate. Manifestations of international terrorism, which go beyond operations by detached groups and are developing into a powerful paramilitary force, and escalation of inter-ethnic and religious conflicts in the direct proximity to our borders, are the realities we have to deal with," Mirzo said.
"It is possible to put up an effective fight and resist these threats solely by joint and coordinated efforts, especially in such a systemic area as air defense," the minister remarked.
Contemporary threats and challenges set "similar tasks for CIS member countries in the provision of their sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.
"A coordinated approach to these tasks is a major factor of our interaction which has been on the rise in recent years," Mirzo stressed.
"Air defense cooperation doubtlessly holds an important place in the multifaceted military contacts between CIS nations," he said. "This is the area of ultimate effectiveness of our cooperation."
"It would not be an exaggeration to say that the CIS integrated air defense network is an illustrative example of an active multistate defense system," he said.
In the words of the minister, the Coordination Committee was tasked to discuss ways of upgrading the CIS integrated air defense network.
"As a member of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers, I can assure you that we will continue to create appropriate conditions and a normative legal basis for bolstering air defense cooperation," the minister said.
He congratulated the meeting participants on the approaching 70th anniversary of the victory in WWII.
"This victory is a symbol of might and unity of peoples bonded by the common aspiration and idea," he said.