Russia, Central African Republic (CAR) Sign Agreement On Military Cooperation At Army-2018 Forum

Russia and the Central African Republic (CAR) signed on Tuesday an intergovernmental agreement on military cooperation on the sidelines of the Army-2018 defense industry forum, which is currently being held in the Moscow Region.

KUBINKA (Moscow Region) (UrduPoint news / Sputnik - 21st August, 2018) Russia and the Central African Republic (CAR) signed on Tuesday an intergovernmental agreement on military cooperation on the sidelines of the Army-2018 defense industry forum, which is currently being held in the Moscow Region.

The agreement was signed by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his car counterpart Marie-Noelle Koyara.

According to Shoigu, the agreement will contribute to the strengthening of the bilateral ties in the defense field.

The Russian defense minister stressed that Moscow considered the Central African Republic as a prospective partner on the African continent, adding that the meeting of the presidents of the two countries in May gave an important impetus to the Russian-CAR relations.

Koyara, in turn, expressed hope that the agreement would become a basis for the works to train the Central African Armed Forces, but has not specified whether they would be trained in Russia or in the Central African Republic with the help of Russian specialists.

"We have very strong and close ties [with Russia]. After the developments in our country [civil war], our army has been completely restructured. Now our main goal is to increase the military capacity of the army so that it is capable of protecting the national territory and the people," Koyara indicated.

The minister added that the two countries' relations had always been distinguished by positive developments.

The Army-2018 forum kicked off earlier on Tuesday at the Patriot congress and exhibition center in the town of Kubinka, the Moscow Region, and will last until Sunday, August 26.