Russia awaits resumption of military cooperation with Tanzania
MOSCOW. July 2 (Interfax) - Russian Defense Minister Gen. of the Army Sergei Shoigu expects negotiations with his Tanzanian counterpart to resume the bilateral military-technical cooperation that had ceased almost 20 years ago.
Shoigu held negotiations with Tanzanian Defense Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha in Moscow on Tuesday.
"Hopefully, our meeting will spur a broad military partnership between Russia and Tanzania," Shoigu said.
The partnership started 40 years ago, when most Tanzanian military units were armed with Soviet weaponry, he said.
The Tanzanian defense minister said he was pleased to visit Russia and hoped to strengthen friendship between the two countries.
A Russian Defense Ministry representative told reporters that military cooperation between Tanzania and the former Soviet Union was actively developing in 1964-1991, but those relations stopped in 1991. The Soviet Union trained almost 300 Tanzanian servicemen, and more than 1,060 Soviet servicemen were trained in Tanzania. The Soviet Union created an air defense network in Tanzania in the 1980s and supplied the country with Pechora-M air defense systems, Mikoyan MiG-21 fighters, T-55 tanks, armored personnel carriers and other hardware.
"In all, approximately $500 million worth of armaments were delivered," the source said.