On October 8, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, who arrived the day before on a working visit to the Russian Federation, took part in a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States held in Moscow.

Being, in accordance with its neutral status, an associate member of the CIS, Turkmenistan takes an active position in the development of fruitful cooperation in the Commonwealth, taking into account the existing impressive potential in various fields. Our country is united with the CIS countries by traditional ties of friendship and good neighborliness, close historical and cultural ties, which serves as a solid foundation for building mutually beneficial partnership and enriching its content.

In the afternoon, the head of Turkmenistan proceeded to the Grand Kremlin Palace, which became the venue for the CIS Summit. President Serdar Berdimuhamedov was warmly welcomed here by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov, President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev also arrived in Moscow to participate in the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS.

After the traditional ceremony of joint photographing of the summit participants against the background of the National flags of the Commonwealth member states and the flag of the CIS, a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS was held in a narrow format.

Welcoming the Summit participants, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin noted the richness of the meeting's agenda, covering a wide range of issues of cooperation in the Commonwealth format, including economic topics, prospects for trade and investment cooperation, opportunities to launch new large mutually beneficial projects in various industries, humanitarian ties, as well as an exchange of views on a number of other relevant topics.

Then the floor was given to the heads of State.

At the beginning of his speech, addressing the Summit participants, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov first of all expressed gratitude to the President of the Russian Federation for the hospitality, warm welcome and excellent working conditions created.

Before moving on to the topic of the meeting, the head of Turkmenistan once again congratulated the Russian leader on his birthday and wished him good health and new successes in his service to the Russian people and the state. As President Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin enjoys great respect and authority in Turkmenistan, is one of the architects of friendship, good-neighborliness and cooperation between our countries.

Continuing his speech, the head of the Turkmen state stated that this year for the CIS is marked by the implementation of the main priorities and tasks. These include strengthening security and stability, deepening economic partnership, and expanding humanitarian ties. In the coming period, the Commonwealth faces the goals of maximizing the common potential to fulfill the agreements reached and new goals dictated by current changes and trends in global political and economic life.

"I am convinced that our main defining task as responsible states is to continue working together to ensure lasting peace and stability in the Commonwealth,– President Serdar Berdimuhamedov stressed. – This can be achieved by pursuing a coordinated line to further strengthen the mechanisms of political and diplomatic cooperation within the CIS, defending positions in favor of peace and security in the global arena, in international organizations.

The issue of countering new challenges and threats is particularly acute today. First of all, we mean such serious risks as biological hazards, cybercrime, and the illegal use of information platforms. In this context, the Head of Turkmenistan noted that our countries need to move to more active, coordinated and structured approaches to these phenomena, develop mechanisms to protect against attempts of destructive influence on state institutions and public life, purposefully stop attempts to infiltrate elements of radicalism, sow hostility and intolerance.

– To do this, we need to use the political, diplomatic, organizational, scientific, technical and other resources at our disposal. Peace, stability and security within the Commonwealth must be inviolable and reliably guaranteed," President Serdar Berdimuhamedov stressed.

On the external circuit, the CIS countries face no less significant tasks. The session of the UN General Assembly that has begun has shown the existence of considerable and largely conceptual differences in approaches to solving a number of acute problems of modern geopolitics. Nevertheless, despite all their seriousness, Turkmenistan proceeds from the fact that stabilization of the situation in the world is possible, and it lies in the political, diplomatic, and negotiating plane. The most important factor in this context is the use of the UN as the only organization with universal legitimacy in maintaining global security and stability, the head of Turkmenistan said.

Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. This is a major milestone. It is obvious that the CIS, as a partner of the UN, needs to do a lot of work aimed at strengthening the world organization, supporting and uniting member states around the UN Charter, countering attempts to discredit and dilute its functions.

– Turkmenistan considers holding events within the framework of the International Year of Peace and Trust next year, in accordance with the Resolution of the General Assembly adopted on the initiative of our country, to be an important part of our joint activities in this regard. Of course, as the author of this proposal, Turkmenistan will play a proactive role in the upcoming work, and we would like to involve our CIS partners in it as much as possible and enlist your active support," President Serdar Berdimuhamedov said.

As President Serdar Berdimuhamedov further noted, at the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the CIS held in Ashgabat in May this year, agreements were reached and specific tasks were set to further deepen economic partnership. The priorities include transport, energy, industrial cooperation, and a number of other areas. Turkmenistan fully supports this approach. Advocating the full implementation of the provisions of the CIS Economic Cooperation Strategy until 2030, our country proceeds from the need for a phased and consistent implementation of the document, adhering to the schedules of agreements reached in one direction or another.

– In general, we are convinced that the CIS in its economic activities should be guided by large, defining trends in global geo-economics in order to ensure its strategic involvement in their course and structural orientation. The essence of these trends today is the shift of the vector of economic development to the south and southeast. The CIS is a natural space in this irreversible movement," the head of Turkmenistan continued.

One of the effective ways here is the participation of the CIS in international and regional projects in the south and south-east directions from the borders of the Commonwealth. Moreover, the opportunities for this are opening up. More recently, in mid-September, Turkmenistan began the practical implementation of a new stage of construction of large infrastructure facilities. The laying of the Afghan part of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India gas pipeline has begun. The Afghan section of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan power transmission line has been launched. The construction of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan railway line through the territory of the neighboring state has started.

The participation of the Commonwealth countries in these and other similar projects that will appear is a sure and reliable way to reach a strategic perspective, and we must fully utilize our combined resources and potential, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov stressed.

This fully applies to the issue of transport connectivity, primarily in the context of the implementation of the Action Plan for Infrastructure Optimization and the Development of International Corridors passing through the territories of the CIS member States for the period up to 2030.

Turkmenistan attaches particular importance to the cooperation of the CIS countries in the North–South transport corridor project along the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea with further access to Iran and further to the seaports of the Indian Ocean. In this regard, the head of the Turkmen state voiced a proposal to start a substantive discussion and agreement on common tariff, customs, visa and other preferences for the participating countries of the project.

– We believe that similar work should be carried out in the context of plans to create transport corridors through the territory of the countries of Central Asia and the Caspian region along the East–West line, – said President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, proposing to consider in specific terms the modalities of this work – specifying deadlines, agendas and so on, to give instructions to the relevant departments of our countries.

Source: State news agency