MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2021) The joint Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) military exercises in Central Asia have contributed to normalization of the situation on the Tajik-Afghan border, CSTO Deputy Secretary General Valeriy Semerikov told Sputnik on Monday.
"Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we managed to conduct all (military) activities related to the training of collective forces of the organization to respond as intended. Large-scale military exercises were held in different regions of the CSTO's area of responsibility, most of which were held, subsequently, in Central Asia with regard to the circumstances, particularly on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan. We think that this in a certain way contributed to normalization of situation on the Tajik-Afghan border," Semerikov said.
The official added that Afghanistan was one of the major issues in the region nowadays, involving the dangers of drug-trafficking, migration and terrorist organizations. He mentioned that the situation was relatively calm and controlled this year, but that a deterioration was possible. He noted that CSTO military exercises in the region were not enough to maintain stability, and intergovernmental decisions on the strengthening of the Tajik-Afghan border were required.
Tajikistan hosted the large-scale CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces joint exercises 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from the Tajik-Afghan border on October 23, 2021. Semerikov highlighted that the CSTO planned to conduct similar exercises in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan in 2022.
