Uzbekistan: President Karimov Calls for Military Build-Up

President Islam Karimov says Uzbekistan's army needs to be expanded, modernized and reformed in order to meet regional security challenges.

"The complicated military-political situation in our region and in the entire world, is changing fast. Real and potential threats to security, which are related, above all, to the escalating conflict in Afghanistan, are growing," he said.

"The scale of narco-aggression, international terrorism, extremism and that of other threats is expanding. All this requires us to fully strengthen the combat readiness of our Armed Forces and to step up measures to defend and protect our state borders," he added in remarks broadcast on Uzbek TV on January 13.

Combat-readiness and mobility would be key to thwarting "any sort of evil attempts aimed at infringing [upon] the inviolability of our borders," he stressed.