During his official visit to Tajikistan, which is scheduled for June 10-12, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is expected to travel to Khujand, the capital of the Tajik northern province of Sughd, a source within the Tajik government told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon will accompany Mirziyoyev on his trip to Khujand. The purpose of the visit to Khujand is for Mirziyoyev to get acquainted with trade and economic potential of Sughd province. Uzbek leader will visit a number of industrial enterprises in Khujand.
He is also scheduled to hold talks with the Sughd regional administrators to discuss expansion of cooperation between Sughd province and neighboring Uzbek regions, the source added.
Uzbek president’s official visit to Tajikistan is reportedly expected to be resulted in signing of about 30 government-to-government on cooperation in the fields of energy, transportation, trade, investment, security, education and culture.
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have accumulated many problems after collapse of the Soviet Union. These problems caused the countries' relations to go into a deep freeze two decades ago, including disputes over water and borders. The two countries had had the worst bilateral relations in Central Asia.
Relations between the countries have become warmer after Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power in Uzbekistan in 2016. Mirziyoyev has said that improving ties with Central Asian nations is a major priority of Uzbekistan’s foreign policy.
Emomali Rahmon and Shavkat Mirziyoyev have met several times since September 2016 and in March 2018, Mirziyoyev made an historic visit to Dushanbe, where 27 bilateral agreements were signed in the fields of trade, economy, investment, finance, transport and transit, agriculture, water and energy, taxes, customs, tourism, education and science, health, culture, interregional cooperation, in the field of security and countering crime. One of the agreements signed in Dushanbe on March 9 last year after the negotiations was a deal enabling nationals of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to visit each other’s countries for up to 30 days without obtaining visa
Earlier in April 2018, Uzbekistan's national airline resumed flights from Tashkent to Dushanbe after a hiatus of some 25 years. The air communication between Dushanbe and Tashkent was cut off in 1992 at Tashkent’s initiative and the issue of resumption of the direct air communication between the two countries has been raised at meetings between state officials of the two countries more than once.
27 bilateral governmental agreements addressing bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in industry, education, border security, agriculture and much else were signed during President’s Rahmon’s state visit to Uzbekistan in August 2018.
