By Anthony Marcus, for Eurasia Business News – August 20, 2021

The leaders of the CSTO Alliance will discuss the situation in Afghanistan during an online meeting on August 23, announced the Russian President Vladimir Putin. The session will be chaired by the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon.

“Of course, now one of the most pressing issues is security issues, especially in connection with the events that are now developing in Afghanistan. […] Then we still have work within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and CSTO as planned in mid-September“, said Vladimir Putin on August 21 during an official visit of his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev in the Kremlin.

The Russian president also thanked the Kazakh president for agreeing to take part in the Eastern Economic Forum, to be held on 2 – 4 September in Vladivostok, Russian Far East.

During Tokayev’s visit to Moscow, issues of bilateral cooperation and strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and Russia have been discussed.

China and Russia are carefully monitoring the situation in Afghanistan. The Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Afghan issue is directly related to the security of the Russian Federation. Russian diplomats have already met representatives of the Taliban and obtained guarantees. About China, the Chinese leaders may use Afghanistan as a new territory for economic and political influence through the New Silk Road program launched in 2013. We can expect that Moscow and Beijing will work together to protect their security interest in the region. Both China and Russia have a lot to loose if islamic terrorism spreads in Central Asia.

Kazakhstan is another stakeholder in the geopolitics of Central Asia and more particularly about Afghanistan. Being a significant military power, before Uzbekistan, and with about 70 % of the country’s population being Muslim, events in Afghanistan directly concern the security and economic interests of Kazakhstan.

The Kazakh President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev stated on August 22 that “If events in Afghanistan do not pose a direct threat to Kazakhstan, but law enforcement agencies must be ready to address any challenges.”

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is a regional organization founded on May 15, 1992. The main goal of CSTO is the political stability and the security of State members. Challenges addressed by the CSTO include military threats, terrorism, extremism and organised crime. Members of CSTO are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

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