On October 13, the presidents of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan – Emomali Rahmon and Sadir Jabborov (Zhaparov) met and discussed in Bishkek, on the sidelines of the meeting of the heads of the Union of Mutually Beneficial States. According to the press service of the presidents of both countries, the issue of defining the border line of both countries was discussed at this meeting.
In particular, according to the website of the President of Tajikistan, at this meeting, the issue of determining “the state border line of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and the agreements that were reached in this direction a while ago” was addressed. According to this source, the leaders of the two countries positively assessed the work of the government delegations on border marking and expressed their support for “further activation of the work”.
It is also stated in this news that Rahmon and Jabborov “reached an agreement to continue the regular political dialogue at the highest level, which traditionally stimulates the development of the entire range of bilateral relations”.
The statement of the Kyrgyz authorities is almost the same and does not publish more details of these visits.
43.32 km of the agreed border
Tajikistan has a 970-980 km border with Kyrgyzstan, more than 600 km of which have been identified. The dispute over the designation and marking of disputed areas of the border between the two close neighbors has become more heated in recent years, and in the spring and autumn of 2021-2022, the border between the Isfara district of Tajikistan and Bodkand of Kyrgyzstan witnessed armed conflicts with high casualties.
While the dispute between residents of both sides over natural resources such as water, land and pastures is an objective result of unresolved border issues after the collapse of the Soviet Union, critics also blame both governments for little progress in diplomatic talks and political populism as the reason for the bloodshed of residents. criticize.
One of the latest developments, which the authorities of both sides announced on October 8, is the agreement of the topographical groups of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on the designation of another 43.32 kilometers of the border. It is not known which part of the border we are talking about.
Earlier, on October 2, the heads of the KDAM of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan announced the signing of protocol number 44, which, according to them, opens the way to solving “any issue, all problems that have previously been the cause of conflict on the state border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.” does
This time, the details of this document were not published and raised doubts about the possibility of allowing Tajikistan to pass a part of its territory.
Authorities in Tajikistan are criticized for keeping information about border negotiations secret.
Source : Радио Озоди