Russia and Uzbekistan should counter terrorism in Central Asia together - defense chief

DUSHANBE, October 12. /TASS/. Russia and Uzbekistan need to pool efforts to counter the challenges posed by international terrorism in Central Asia, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Thursday. "Uzbekistan is Russia’s strategic partner in the Central Asian region. Our countries successfully cooperate in many areas, including the security sphere. Today, we should consolidate our efforts to counter challenges and threats, especially from international terrorism," Shoigu said at a meeting with Uzbekistan’s Defense Minister Abdulsalom Azizov. The Russian minister noted that the two countries have been able to significantly raise the level of cooperation between their Defense Ministries over the past year, "which should be maintained and developed." "This primarily concerns joint steps to ensure military security, strengthen the armed forces’ combat potentials and train military personnel," Shoigu noted. According to the Russian defense minister, the two countries’ experts agreed on proposals to organize work along these lines, and this proposals were incorporated into the draft plan for bilateral cooperation between the Russian and Uzbek Defense Ministries for 2018. "I suggest signing it today," Shoigu said. The Russian minister expressed the hope that "today’s meeting will give an additional impetus to security cooperation and contribute to efforts to strengthen friendly relations between the two countries’ armed forces." He also expressed his gratitude for the support and participation of Uzbekistan’s representatives in "landmark events held by the Russian Defense Ministry." "The Uzbek delegations actively worked at the 6th Moscow Security Conference, at the conference on military aspects of countering terrorism in Syria and at the Army-2017 International Military-Technical Forum. Uzbekistan’s military servicemen competed in the International Army Games for the first time this year showing an excellent training level and winning prizes in five competitions," the minister said. Shoigu invited Uzbekistan’s defense minister and representatives of his country to take part in the events due to be held by the Russian Defense Ministry in 2018. Read more