DUSHANBE. October 14, 2022 /NIAT «Khovar»/. The Founder of Peace and National Unity, Leader of the Nation, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon took part in a meeting of the Council of the Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The meeting held in Astana under the chairmanship of President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The meeting was also attended by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and President of the Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov.

During the meeting in the restricted format, the leader discussed important issues of cooperation within the Commonwealth of Independent States and topical issues on the international and regional agenda.

While emphasizing the successful implementation of the goals within Kazakhstan’s presidency in the CIS, President Rahmon highlighted the global political issues, the impact of external factors on the economy and security of countries, the food and energy crisis, climate change, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the consequences of conflicts in different countries of the world.

In connection with the negative consequences of threats, he proposed, along with the work carried out within the CIS, to take more effective measures to jointly respond to growing challenges and threats.

“Multilateral economic cooperation was named as a priority area of relations between the participating states, because the Commonwealth states have large resources for its development,” President Rahmon noted.

“Despite the results achieved by the countries within the CIS over the past three decades, there are still obstacles and limitations that prevent further mutually beneficial development,” he added.

There is still untapped potential in the fields of economy, industry, science, technology, transport, transit, and the energy sector.

He also spoke about the consequences of major natural disasters related to water, material damage and loss of life, Tajikistan’s global initiatives to solve the problem of water shortage, the impact of climate change on water resources, the melting of glaciers, and the increased demand for drinking water.

Terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, cybercrime, and other manifestations of transnational organized crime were named as the main threats to the security of countries.

Tajikistan is a supporter of the Program of Cooperation of CIS Member States in the Fight Against Terrorism and Extremism for 2023–2025.  The heads of states and governments of the CIS adopted documents related to the further development of the organization.