The delegation of Tajikistan led by the Speaker of Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament (Majlisi Namoyandagon) has left for St. Petersburg to participate in sessions of the Parliament Assemblies (PAs) of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) at the invitation of the Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko, Parliament press service reports.

The CIS IPA Council on 12 April «will focus on a number of issues related to the activities of the assembly and its secretariat, take stock of the work of the CIS IPA in 2017 and discuss the plan for the forthcoming period,» CIS IPA press center informed.

The plenary session of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly themed «Intercultural Dialogue of the CIS Countries: State, Prospects and Legal Framework» during which the delegations will discuss the draft model documents prepared by members of the standing commissions and experts, will be dedicated to the Year of Culture in the CIS.

The Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (IPA CIS) was created on 27 March 1992 in Alma-Aty (Republic of Kazakhstan) under the terms of theAgreementsigned by Heads of founding parliaments. In 1995, the session of the Council of the CIS Heads of State held in Minsk, Belarus consolidated the status of IPA CIS as a fully-fledged international organization. On 26 May 1995 CIS leaders signed the Convention on the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States eventually ratified by nine CIS parliaments. Under the terms of the Convention, the IPA CIS was invested with international legitimacy. The HQ is housed in the Tavricheskiy Palace, a historical landmark of St Petersburg.