The Russian President called for broader cooperation between the two countries. He said that some projects, especially in the power industry, merited special attention. In the opinion of the Russian leader power transmission lines could be extended to bring power to Afghanistan.
For his part, Mr Rakhmonov subscribed to Mr Putin’s assessments and called for more active military-technical cooperation. He said the decision on the status of the Russian military base in Tajikistan needed to be speeded up.
The treaty on the status and terms of the stay of Russian troops in that republic was signed back in 1999, but the two sides had yet to exchange the instruments of ratification.