Uzbek Leader Receives Russian Defense Minister

On October 29 this year at the Oksaroy Residence in Tashkent the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov received the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Anatoly Serdyukov, the local agencies reported.

“We consider your visit yet as another confirmation of the developing relations between the defense ministries of our countries, which have gained a powerful impetus following the Treaty on allied relations has been signed in 2005,” – President Islam Karimov has said.

The military, military-technical and military-scientific cooperation, which has been established between the two countries, is aimed at providing the Armed Forces with arms and military techniques, the development of exchange of information and technologies, training and retraining the cadres. So far at their firing ranges Uzbekistan and Russian have held twice the joint tactical antiterrorist exercises.

There is an Agreement on military and military-technical cooperation in force between Uzbekistan and Russia. The two defense ministries annually work out and implement the joint programs and plans. This visit of the Russian Defense Minister A.Serdyukov saw the signing of the bilateral cooperation plan for 2008, the reports have said.

The two countries also strengthen the legal basis of interacting in military sphere. In May this year Uzbekistan and Russia signed the agreement in Moscow on maintaining the air defense land troop units with portable antiaircraft complexes, their exploitation and exchange of information.

The sides also closely cooperate in the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). These ties serve the cause of strengthening security and stability in the CSTO space. Besides, Uzbekistan’s access expands to the rapid intelligence and analytical data by Russia’s special services, as well as cutting-edge armament and technique.

The state and scale of the current practical military cooperation allow saying that Uzbekistan and Russia also traverse along extending allied relations in the military sphere.

Russian Defense Minister Serdyukov thanked the Uzbek Leader for the cordial welcome. He has said that Russia treats the military cooperation with Uzbekistan with a special attention and stands ready to consistently continue all joint programs and plans in this direction.