‘Terror from Af-Pak region matter of concern’

Ansari said the pullout of NATO forces from Afghanistan in 2014 was not the specific agenda of his visit but admitted that everybody was watching how the development takes shape.

“It’s not exactly a military ally,’’ he said in response to a question on whether Delhi was planning to scale up its defence engagement with Dushanbe with an eye on the Afghanistan pullout. “It’s an ongoing engagement…both countries have suffered due to terrorism.” While stating that the levels of development in Tajikistan were very low,Ansari said that earlier the country used to survive on aid from Moscow but now remittances sent by Tajiks working abroad formed a critical part of the economy. With a population of approximately seven million people,as many as one million Tajiks work abroad. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union,Tajikistan had been plagued by years of civil war.

Ansari described the relations between India and Tajikistan as “politically very good but commercially modest’’. Trade between the two countries accounts for less than $34 million.

As part of its capacity building exercise,India not only trains military cadets but also gives many scholarships to Tajik students.