Post-Afghan Pullout: US considers handing military hardware to CARs
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan in ‘closed talks’ with Pentagon on transfer of armored vehicles, tank trailers.
MOSCOW:
The US military is discussing the transfer of military equipment to several Central Asian Republics after its imminent pullout from Afghanistan, a Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.
The countries which include Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were in ‘closed talks’ with the Pentagon concerning the transfer of armored vehicles, tank trailers and other specialised equipment. Some of the machinery will be handed over at no cost while other items would be given over for safe storage, the report said. A Kyrgyzstan military official confirmed that these talks had been initiated in the past, when the US and Kyrgyz defence ministers met.
A Russian diplomat, angered by the report responded by saying that holding such talks without Moscow being in the loop was “absolutely unacceptable”, citing the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which applies to all former Soviet states that includes Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, stipulating that no signatory may enter a military alliance with any other country except those that were a part of the CSTO.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2012.
The US military is discussing the transfer of military equipment to several Central Asian Republics after its imminent pullout from Afghanistan, a Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.
The countries which include Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were in ‘closed talks’ with the Pentagon concerning the transfer of armored vehicles, tank trailers and other specialised equipment. Some of the machinery will be handed over at no cost while other items would be given over for safe storage, the report said. A Kyrgyzstan military official confirmed that these talks had been initiated in the past, when the US and Kyrgyz defence ministers met.
A Russian diplomat, angered by the report responded by saying that holding such talks without Moscow being in the loop was “absolutely unacceptable”, citing the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which applies to all former Soviet states that includes Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, stipulating that no signatory may enter a military alliance with any other country except those that were a part of the CSTO.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2012.