DUSHANBE, February 23, 2012, Asia-Plus — On Wednesday February 22, President Emomali Rahmon received Uzbek First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov, who is also Minister of Finance of Uzbekistan.
According to the Tajik presidential press service, delineation of Tajikistan’s common border with Uzbekistan and seeking solution to problems connected with disputable stretches of the Tajik-Uzbek border were a major topic of the meeting.
The sides also discussed issues related to bilateral cooperation and neighborliness between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The two expressed confidence that that all disputable issues would be solved positively, the source said.
We will recall that Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have resumed border talks this year after a three-year pause.
Radio Liberty reports the Tajik-Uzbek border delimitation talks had been stalled since February 2009 after Tajikistan rejected Uzbekistan’s proposal to give up some disputed lands to the Tajik side on condition that Tashkent will gain full control of Farkhod water reservoir along the two countries border.
A two-day meeting of the Tajik-Uzbek Intergovernmental Commission for Demarcation and Delimitation, which is co-chaired by Tajik Security Council Secretary Abdurahim Qahhorov and Uzbek Vice-Premier Rustam Azimov, took place in Dushanbe on February 21-22.
According to the Uzbek Embassy in Dushanbe, the Uzbek delegation members included more than 25 representatives from relevant ministries and agencies of Uzbekistan.
The Tajik-Uzbek border is over 1,200 kilometers long, 20 percent of which remain disputed. Some experts consider that the crossing between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is one of the worst frontier experiences in the Central Asian region. Uzbekistan has made it very difficult for any Tajik citizen to cross the frontier, parts of which are mined.
