BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 30. Uzbekistan and Tajikistan discussed the Uzbek - Tajik state border demarcation line, Trend reports via Tajikistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The matter was discussed during the regular meeting of working groups of the joint Uzbek - Tajik Demarcation Commission.
On January 23-30 this year, Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe hosted talks between the governmental delegations of the two countries. During the negotiations, the parties also touched upon the process of creating technological demarcation maps, as well as carried out field inspections of individual sections of the Uzbek - Tajik state border.
Following the meetings, the parties agreed on certain issues and signed the relevant document. Furthermore, Uzbekistan will be hosting the next meeting of the working groups.
Earlier in January 2023, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan completed the process of delimitation of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek state border. The agreement on this matter was signed between Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, at a meeting with his counterpart Kyrgyz Sadyr Japarov, as part of Mirziyoyev's state visit to Kyrgyzstan.
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have not been able to set the state border lines for years. The length of the Tajik-Uzbek border amounts to 1,332 kilometers. Relations between the two states have markedly improved since 2016. New president Shavkat Mirziyoyev has vowed to improve relations with Tajikistan, and there have been recent high-level moves to clearly outline the border and improve cross-border travel.
In early January 2018, the parties agreed on the most controversial section of the state border - the dam of the Farkhad hydroelectric power station. Dushanbe and Tashkent decided that the territory where the Farkhad HPP is located will be recognized as the territory of Tajikistan, and the hydroelectric facility itself will be the property of Uzbekistan. The HPP at the time was said to be protected by the Tajik side, and Uzbekistan had the duty of managing the plant.
In 2021 reports said Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan) instructed relevant working groups, which included surveyors, cartographers, representatives of the Foreign Ministry, border services, to finally approve the procedure for establishing border posts on the borders of the two states by the end of 2021.