DUSHANBE, May 14, 2015, Asia-Plus — Reports by some media outlets that negotiations between Dushanbe and Tashkent over resumption of the direct air communication have allegedly reached a deadlock do not correspond to the facts, an official source in the Tajik government told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, the resumption of the direct air communication between Dushanbe and Tashkent will be one of the major topics of the next meeting of Tajik-Uzbek intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation that is expected to take place in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, in late June this year.
“As of today, there no differences between the two sides on this issue,” the source said, noting that the Uzbek delegation at the meeting will be led by the First Vice-Premier Rustam Azimov.
We will recall that Tajik President Emomali Rahmon held talks with his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov in Dushanbe on September 10, 2014 on sideline of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. Both presidents declared for expansion of friendly and good-neighborly relations between their countries.
It was the first visit of Uzbek president to Tajikistan since 2008. In August 2008, Islam Karimov visited Dushanbe to attend the SCO summit. Rahmon and Karimov also held talks in Tashkent in June 2010 on sideline of the SCO summit.
Tajik and Uzbek leaders meet rarely because of disagreements over use of regional water-and-energy resources.
In the framework of agreements reached during talks between the presidents of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in Dushanbe in September last year, Tajikistan has sent a number of proposals to Uzbekistan on expansion of bilateral cooperation.
The Tajik authorities reportedly noted that resumption of regular air communication between Dushanbe and Tashkent and bus service between cities of the two countries would promote expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The air communication between Dushanbe and Tashkent was cut off in 1992.
Besides, the Tajik side has proposed to simplify visa requirements for citizens of both countries.
Relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are currently strained because of the former’s plans to build the Roghun hydroelectric power plant (HPP). Tajik authorities believe that the Roghun dam is solution to many problems Tajikistan faces today, including frequent electricity shortages during winters. The Roghun HPP could generate both enough electricity to provide for Tajikistan’s population and enough excess to export to Pakistan, Afghanistan, or China.
Uzbekistan is downstream country and its authorities consider that Tajikistan will use the dam as a means of leverage to pressure Uzbekistan in the many political disputes between the two countries.
However, Tajik-Uzbek relations have begun to thaw after a long chill. Uzbek enterprises are reportedly seeking partners for cooperation in Tajikistan and a two-way trade between the two countries is increasing. For the first time chiefs of staffs of the border troops of the two countries met in Khujand, the capital of the Tajik northern province of Sughd last month.
