China’s influence grows in neighbour Tajikistan – Emirates 24/7

Extending credits worth almost $2 billion, mighty China is spreading its influence to its poor ex-Soviet neighbour Tajikistan in the hope of winning mineral riches and a loyal strategic ally.

Tajikistan is the poorest nation to have emerged from the USSR’s collapse, with a Gross National Income per capita of $780 per year and around 40 percent of GDP coming from remittances from migrants working abroad, according to the World Bank.

Yet the mainly Muslim nation is no longer looking to its ex-Soviet master Moscow to provide crucial assistance in building infrastructure but China with whom it shares a 500-kilometre (300-mile) border across the Pamir mountains.

Analysts say China’s economic largesse is winning the modern day version of the 19th century Great Game in Tajikistan as the West, Russia and Beijing jostle for influence in states neighbouring conflict-wracked Afghanistan.

via China’s influence grows in neighbour Tajikistan – Emirates 24/7.

Iran Willing to Join China-Tajikistan-Afghanistan Railway Link, 7 May 2012 Monday 13:40

Monday, 7 May 2012

Iranian Minister of Road and Urbanization Ali Nikzad voiced Tehran‘s willingness to join a railway line which is due to connect China, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, Fars News Agency reported.

The issue was raised by Nikzad in a meeting with Tajik Minister of Transport Nizom Hakimov here in Tehran on Sunday.

Nikzad called on the Tajik official to provide the needed maps for the Iranian company in charge of the feasibility studies of the project in a bid to enable Metra company to wrap of work and present the results by the next three months.

The Iranian company, Metra, is conducting the feasibility study for the construction of a Tajik stretch of a rail link that will connect Kashgar (China) and Herat (Afghanistan).

via Iran Willing to Join China-Tajikistan-Afghanistan Railway Link, 7 May 2012 Monday 13:40.

Chinese president’s envoy meets Tajik president on relations

DUSHANBE, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Hu Jintao’s special envoy, Chen Zhili, held talks with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon here on Thursday to discuss relations between their two countries. 

Chen, who is vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China, conveyed Hu’s warm greetings to Rakhmon.

Chen said that, thanks to the joint efforts of the two sides, remarkable achievements in the development of bilateral ties between China and Tajikistan had been made in the past two decades.

The two countries had carried out a series of major cooperation projects in such fields as the economy and trade, transportation and electricity, based on the principle of mutual benefit, she said.

Chen said the two sides had also maintained close coordination within the framework of the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and made their contribution to regional stability and world peace.

China is ready to seize the opportunity of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic between China and Tajikistan to enhance China-Tajikistan political mutual trust, tap their cooperation potential and take bilateral ties into ever new stages, Chen said.

Rakhmon said Tajikistan had been committed to developing a new type of friendly relations with China since the two countries established diplomatic ties 20 years ago.

Tajikistan: The Changing Insurgent Threats

24 May 2011:  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Tajikistan, by most measures Central Asia’s poorest and most vulnerable state, is now facing yet another major problem: the growing security threat from both local and external insurgencies. After his security forces failed to bring warlords and a small group of young insurgents to heel in the eastern region of Rasht in 2010-2011, President Emomali Rakhmon did a deal to bring a temporary peace to the area. But he may soon face a tougher challenge from the resurgent Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a group with a vision of an Islamist caliphate that is fighting in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban.

That conflict is moving closer to the 1,400km Afghan-Tajik border. Many anti-government guerrillas operating in northern Afghanistan are of Central Asian origin and are largely affiliated with the IMU, which seems to be focusing on its fight against the government in Kabul but may at some stage turn its attention northwards. Tajikistan has almost no capacity to tackle a dedicated insurgent force; its efforts to quell problems in Rasht have left its only well-trained counter-insurgency unit with just over 30 fighters.

Tajikistan Geography Redux

Historical Maps

WikiMediaCommons: Digital Atlas of Tajikistan

 VIA: The Tajikistan Update