I welcoming remarks

Extent and Nature of Tajikistan’s Participation in the
System of Regional Cooperation in Central Asia
Khudoiberdi Kholiknazar, Director of the Center for Strategic
Studies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan
The development of mutually beneficial regional
cooperation and deepening of integration processes in the region
are one of the main directions of the foreign policy of the
Republic of Tajikistan. This position proceeds not only from the
principle of good-neighborly relations and the peaceful nature of
its foreign policy, but also corresponds to the real national
interests of the state. Defining the main priorities of Tajikistan’s
foreign policy at a new stage, President of the Republic of
Tajikistan, the Leader of the Nation Emomali Rahmon, in his
keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the new building of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan
(March 15, 2013), said that “the leadership of the Republic of
Tajikistan considers active regional cooperation as the most
important means of solving economic, social, environmental and
security issues in Central Asia, and this approach has been
demonstrated in our political practice over the last 20 years. In
line with constructive cooperation and mutual trust, we will be
able to confront global contemporary challenges and threats in
our region. We are sure that constructive regional integration will
go to the benefit of the states and peoples of the whole of Central
Asia and every Central Asian country separately.”
Adhering to this foreign policy line, the Republic of
Tajikistan consciously supported the idea of cooperation
development and regional integration projects at all stages. For
example, Tajikistan unambiguously welcomed the creation of the
Commonwealth of Independent States (UIS, 1991), actively
supported the idea of setting up the Central Asian Economic

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Community (CAEC, 1998) and in the future, the creation of the
Central Asian Union (CAU). Tajikistan also took an active part in
the work of more extensive regional organizations, such as
Eurasian Economic Community, Organization of Central Asian
States and the SCO.
The idea of regional cooperation is also evidenced by the
fact that even after the disintegration of a number of similar
structures, Tajikistan actively supported the initiative to establish
a new and purely regional organization, the Union of Central
Asian States (UCAS, 2006).
It is important to note that the need for the functioning of
a purely regional organization, first of all, is based on the fact that
there are a number of internal problems in the region that can be
solved only by the Central Asian states themselves. Such
problems include issues of rational use of hydro-energy
resources, water management structures, coordinated functioning
of transport and communication infrastructures, joint solution of
border issues, etc. Taking this into account, the leadership of
Tajikistan has repeatedly advocated the creation of a special
organization in Central Asia in order to strengthen and develop
regional integration. This idea was also voiced in the Address by
the President of the Republic of Tajikistan to the Majlisi Oli of
the Republic of Tajikistan in 2008.
While remaining committed to the spirit of integration,
despite the difficulties in deepening purely regional integration
within the framework of Central Asia, Tajikistan continues to