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Tajikistan appeals for help to secure border with Afghanistan
Tajikistan has appealed to member nations of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for help in dealing with security challenges emerging from neighboring Afghanistan, Tajik media reported Thursday.
In an appeal on Wednesday, Dushanbe reportedly said it could not manage the instability at its border without external assistance.
“Given the current situation in the region, as well as the remoteness and mountainous terrain of some parts of the border with Afghanistan, dealing with this challenge on our own seems difficult,” Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency quoted Hasan Sultonov, the Tajik representative at the CSTO, as saying.
“Therefore, we would like to call on the member states of the organization to contribute to the full implementation” of a 2013 resolution to provide assistance to Tajikistan in strengthening the Tajik-Afghan border, Sultonov said, Armenia’s Armen Press reported.
The CSTO member nations include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia,
Dushanbe’s call came hours after Moscow pledged to defend its Central Asian allies threatened by the intensifying violence in Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said that Moscow stood ready to provide Tajikistan with any assistance it needed.
RIA Novosti reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted at a press conference in Laos on Wednesday that Moscow is ready to use its military base in Tajikistan, its largest military base abroad, to ensure the security of its allies.
“We will do everything we can, including using the capabilities of the Russian military base on Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan, to prevent any aggressive impulses toward our allies,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov said CSTO representatives have visited the Tajik-Afghan border and will report back on the situation to the Permanent Council.
Asia Plus reported that more than 1,500 Afghan civilians and servicemen have fled to neighboring Tajikistan over the past seventeen days.
Tajik authorities say that two-thirds of the 1,357-kilometer border with Afghanistan is under Taliban control.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US special representative for Afghanistan, has questioned Pakistan’s commitment to the welfare of the Afghan people, citing Islamabad’s policies over the past three decades.
Khalilzad said in a post on X that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif advocated for the rights of Afghan women during his speech at the UN General Assembly on Friday.
Sharif said: “Fundamental rights of the Afghan people — especially women and girls — must be respected.”
Responding to the remarks, Khalilzad said Pakistan’s policies over the past 30 years raise questions about Sharif’s commitment to Afghan welfare.
He cited Pakistan’s support for militant groups against US forces and what he described as the poor treatment of Afghan refugees as examples.
Khalilzad also said Afghanistan and Pakistan need and should have much better relations, adding that “a reset is necessary.”
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met with the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Rabab Fatima, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X that Misri underscored the need to keep addressing the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people as a priority.
Misri also appreciated the role of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and reaffirmed India’s continued cooperation with the United Nations on Afghanistan.
The meeting comes as Afghanistan continues to face humanitarian and economic challenges, with international agencies warning of significant needs among the Afghan population.
Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi has called for pragmatic and coordinated international engagement with Afghanistan, saying the country’s long-term stability is closely linked to the security and sustainable development of Central Asia.
Speaking during the general debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, Tileuberdi said humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan remains essential but alone cannot break the cycle of poverty, displacement and dependency.
He said Kazakhstan supports a “pragmatic, coordinated and step-by-step” approach to international engagement with Afghanistan, with the United Nations playing a central role.
Tileuberdi also said Kazakhstan is working with the UN to operationalize the United Nations Regional Centre for the Sustainable Development Goals for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty.
He said the success of the centre should be measured by the results and assistance it delivers to the region.
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