DUSHANBE, 18.12.2020 (NIAT Khovar) – The Founder of Peace and National Unity, Leader of the Nation, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon took part in an online summit of the Council of CIS Heads of State chaired by President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Uzbekistan holds the CIS presidency this year.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Acting President, Chair of Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Talant Mamytov, President of Moldova Igor Dodon, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Speaker of the Federation Council, Chairwoman of the Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member States Valentina Matviyenko, and the Chairman of the Executive Committee – Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States Sergei Lebedev.

The leaders exchange opinions about cooperation in the CIS, and discussed the updated CIS development concept and the action plan to implement it.

The meeting resulted in the adoption of the Concept for the Further Development of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Plan of Basic Measures for its Implementation, and On the Development and Strengthening of Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation of the CIS Member States.

In addition, decisions were signed on the presidency of Belarus for 2021 as well as on further strengthening multifaceted cooperation of the CIS member nations focusing on military, cultural and humanitarian spheres, information security and strengthening border security with the CIS neighboring countries.

In his speech, President Rahmon noted that despite the current tough conditions Uzbekistan has successfully implemented the CIS goals during its presidency. He also noted that the consistent development of friendly relations and cooperation with the member states of the Commonwealth remains one of the priorities of Tajikistan’s foreign policy.

Taking into account the current situation in the world, especially within the Commonwealth space, President Rahmon highly evaluated the mediation efforts of Russia and the decisive actions made by leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement in the conflict zone in Nagorno-Karabakh.

President Rahmon stressed Tajikistan’s interest in maintaining and strengthening peace, stability and regional security and wished the Republic of Kazakhstan successful parliamentary elections which are scheduled for January 2021.

President Rahmon also highlighted the role of the pandemic in food security and the resulting humanitarian crisis in many countries.

«According to the UN, the number of hungry people in the world has doubled to 270 million due to the severe economic downturn and a sharp rise in unemployment,» he noted.

Taking into account the negative trends in the global economic development, President Rahmon called for taking more effective measures within the Commonwealth to jointly respond to the humanitarian and socio-economic consequences of the pandemic.

Maintaining active trade ties, as well as expanding cooperation in the fields of investment, energy, industry, agriculture, transportation, and communications were noted as vital areas.

He also stressed the need to take urgent measures to combat the consequences of climate change, such as the acceleration of melting of glaciers, declining water resources, increase in mudflows, floods and droughts, which annually cause great damage to the country’s economy.

President Rahmon noted the current alarming situation facing region and the world, which is influenced by the growing trend of global and security threats, including terrorism, extremism, various forms of radicalism and transnational organized crime, such as drug trafficking and cybercrime.

The timely adoption of decisions within the framework of the Commonwealth on strengthening information security, the development of cooperation in the military, and strengthening border security were emphasized.

He also touched upon the current state of affairs in Afghanistan, and the need to promot lasting peace and stability through political and diplomatic efforts.

The head of our state stressed the importance of further expanding cultural and humanitarian ties between CIS member nations. Attention was paid to a number of cultural and educational events which are planned to be held in the capital of Tajikistan in 2021 within the framework of the implementation of the program Dushanbe – CIS Cultural Capital 2021.