On April 5 Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian participated in the session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of CIS countries which took place in Tashkent.

Foreign Ministers of CIS countries discussed issues relating to the deepening of cooperation in the

humanitarian sphere, closer cooperation in security issues and many other issues.

In particular, the Council of Foreign Ministers approved programs on the modernization of the agreement of 1997 about mutual recognition of documents about higher education, the Strategy until 2020 of development of physical culture and sports in the CIS from 2013 to 2015 program, as well as the draft programs concerning the announcement of tourism year in CIS in 2014.

The participants of the meeting discussed the draft Concept on fight against crimes with the use information technologies, the draft Agreement on cooperation between the border agencies of the CIS member states, as well as issues concerning the changes in the Statute of coordinating cooperation of the directors of tax (financial) investigation bodies of the member states.

The agenda of Ministerial Council also included the 2013 program of consultations on various levels between the Foreign Ministries of CIS countries, as well as the discussion of the project of Advisory Council Charter of Consular Services of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs.

In Tashkent Edward Nalbandian had a separate meeting with his Uzbek counterpart Abdulaziz Kamilov.

The Ministers discussed the current level of bilateral cooperation and said that there are all prerequisites for strengthening and widening cooperation between Armenia and Uzbekistan.

In this context, they agreed to initiate appropriate steps, which will allow to boost trade, economic ties, expand the legal framework, to promote cooperation within international organizations and cultural exchanges.

The meeting of Minister Nalbandian and Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan Erlan Abdyldaev took place in the capital of Uzbekistan, during which the parties had a detailed discussion of strengthening the bilateral ties, closer cooperation in multilateral aspects, the organization of high-level visits.

The agenda of the negotiations included the timetable of meetings of CSTO's statutory bodies, the issues to be discussed, and different matters related to the areas and directions of the organization’s activity.

In order to continue the dialogue Edward Nalbandian invited his counterpart to Armenia.