The Defense Ministry of Kazakhstan said Kazakhstan has no intention to promote border conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan by rendering military and technical assistance, Trend reports with reference to Akipress.
In December 2019, the Tajik Defense Ministry turned to Kazakhstan for military and technical assistance due to the complicated situation near the Tajik-Afghan border. An intergovernmental agreement on military-technical assistance was drafted and signed on April 17, 2021.
The similar agreement was also signed with Kyrgyzstan on March 2, the statement said. "It means, these agreements with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were signed before the escalation of border disputes between these countries. Work is currently underway to ratify the signed agreements. The provision of military and technical assistance to these countries has no intention to promote border disputes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. These agreements were signed in light of the planned withdrawal of military troops from Afghanistan," the statement said.
Supply of military equipment to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will be carried out only after they reach an agreement to normalize the situation, the Kazakh Defense Ministry's press service added.
Additionally, under the CSTO Treaty that both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are signatories to the CSTO countries must refrain from the use of force or threats against each other. In this regard, military-technical assistance should not be used by them to resolve border disputes.