Armenia to set up special unit for int'l communications security - Pashinyan

YEREVAN. Oct 26 (Interfax) - Armenia will set up a special unit for ensuring the security of international communication lines to be built across its territory in the future, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.

"The Armenian law enforcement system will soon establish a special unit tasked with ensuring security of international communication lines, cargo, vehicles and passengers in transit across Armenia," Pashinyan said at the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum on Thursday.

It is hard to bring peace without open roads, and the South Caucasus needs enduring peace, he said.

"Our government has drafted a project, Crossroads of the World, the key purpose of which is developing communications in Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Georgia. These are roads, railways, pipelines, cables and power lines. The roads running through the south and north of Armenia have not been operational in a regional sense for 30 years. Numerous roads connecting the east and the west are also not in operation, and their use will become an effective way to connect the Caspian Sea with the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf with the Black Sea," Pashinyan said.

The Crossroads of the World principles imply that all infrastructures operate with respect for the sovereignty of the countries of presence, he said. Each country exercises border and customs control and ensures security in its territory via national institutions, and the infrastructures can be used for both international and domestic transport, while all countries use them on terms of equality and reciprocity.

"Based on those principles, we are ready to open, restore and use all existing regional communications. I am asking governments and private investors to pay attention to this opportunity," Pashinyan said.