Tajikistan on Saturday formally granted Russian forces in the Central Asian state a permanent military base in a move Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed as a guarantee of regional security. With some 7,000 soldiers, Moscow said the 201 Divisions's headquarters in Tajikistan would be Russia's largest military base on foreign soil. "Our military presence in Tajikistan will not only guarantee our investment but will also guarantee stability in the region," Putin said after talks with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov. At a joint news conference, Putin also announced deals to invest $2 billion in the former Soviet state. Russian forces were a stabilising factor in Tajikistan's 1992-97 civil war and a buffer against Taleban-run Afghanistan. But in past years Tajik officials openly said they wanted the Russians out to let Dushanbe, like other Central Asian neighbours, build on cooperation with the United States begun during the 2001 anti-Taleban military campaign in Afghanistan. Tajikistan had dragged its feet on a 1999 pact granting the division a formal base, but promises of big investment and debt relief by Moscow changed that. --More 2147 Local Time 1847 GMT
