Saturday, Nov 15, 2003
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India & World
By Amit Baruah
After detailed talks with the Tajik President, Emomali Sharifovich Rakhmanov, the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, announced that India would also extend assistance for the "infrastructure requirements" of the Military Training College in Dushanbe. "We are cooperating well in the field of defence training. We have agreed to institutionalise contact between our armed forces in specialised areas," the Prime Minister said at a press conference with Mr. Rakhmanov. During his day-long visit, Mr. Vajpayee also said a decision had been taken to upgrade the airport at Ayni. According to Mr. Rakhmanov, $5 million of a total assistance package of $40 million announced by India would be a grant towards reconstructing the airport at Ayni, northwest of the Tajik capital, which would serve as an alternative to Dushanbe. He said that Tajikistan had approached Russia and other multilateral organisations to make the airport usable again, but had received a positive response when they contacted India. Pointing to the strategic significance of Dushanbe, the Tajik President said that during the anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, aircraft of many countries used the Dushanbe airport. Highly-placed sources in the Prime Minister's delegation told The Hindu that the Ayni airport project was a "small" one. They, however, made it clear that India's cooperation with Tajikistan, apart from the strict bilateral dimension, had to be seen in the context of Afghanistan and Pakistan. On the new highway project, the sources said the idea, which would involve the concurrence of Afghanistan, was to take the highway from Chabahar-Kabul-Kunduz-Badakhshan into Tajikistan. (India and Iran are currently constructing the link road from Chabahar port into Afghanistan). In his remarks, the Prime Minister said the road project would have to involve three countries, a reference to Afghanistan as the third nation. A working group would deal with the issue in detail. He revealed that the financial assistance package included a credit line of $25 million, which could be used for mutually agreed industrial and infrastructure projects. "Our relationship in the present day is built on a shared commitment to democracy, secularism and the rule of law. We have common concerns in the region," Mr. Vajpayee stressed. The Prime Minister and Mr. Rakhmanov also witnessed the signing of seven agreements, including an extradition treaty, the setting up of an Indo-Tajik Information Technology Centre and an accord on tourism cooperation. The Tajik side expressed its belief that India's membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) would add to the strength of that group when it decides to take a new member, a joint declaration issued by the two sides said. For some time now, India has been keen to join the SCO, and the Tajik formulation takes that desire a step forward. Tajikistan also reiterated that it supported India's entry into the United Nations Security Council as a permanent member. On the formation of a joint working group on counter-terrorism, the declaration said this would help in combating international terrorism, organised crime, money laundering and illegal trafficking in weapons. "In this context, they (India and Tajikistan) reiterated that terrorism cannot be justified on any ground whatsoever. Terrorism is an attack on the human rights and citizens of the world. It must be condemned unambiguously and eradicated wherever it exists. The sides also condemned the supporters of terrorism and those that finance, train or provide support to terrorists." Calling for an Afghanistan free from outside interference, the two countries expressed concern at the challenges to security being mounted by the former Taliban and Al-Qaeda elements "with support from outside". They reiterated their determination to continue providing economic "and other assistance" to contribute to peace, stability and reconstruction in Afghanistan. Tajikistan extended support to India to promote and strengthen international peace and security, including mutual understanding and cooperation in South Asia. Calling for increasing trade between the two countries, the declaration said considering the vast hydro-electric potential of Tajikistan, it was felt that a beginning should also be made to cooperate in this sector.
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