DUSHANBE (RIA Novosti ) – A Tajik security scholar has said Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are working on a common strategy to address possible issues resulting from the planned 2014 withdrawal of the international coalition from Afghanistan, RIA Novosti reported July 14.

Security scholars from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan met in Almaty this spring to begin formulating a common approach to the withdrawal, Sukhrob Sharipov, director of Tajikistan’s Presidential Centre for Strategic Research, said, adding that Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have shown interest. They expressed interest in attending sessions of the three-country expert council in Bishkek and Dushanbe, he said.

International aid for Central Asia – in technology, personnel training and other matters – will be necessary after the coalition withdraws from Afghanistan, Sharipov said.

Tajikistan has already adjusted its foreign policy doctrine to cope with global changes occurring in the past decade, he said.