DUSHANBE, June 23, 2016, Asia-Plus – On Thursday June 23, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met in Tashkent with his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov ahead of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The Tajik president’s official website says Rahmon and Karimov discussed the state of cooperation between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and outlined ways of further expansion of cooperation between their countries.
They reportedly pointed out recent positive trends in relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, including increasing bilateral trade, active work of the intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation, bilateral political consultations, etc.
At the same time, Rahmon and Karimov noted that there was considerable room for expansion of bilateral ties. Relevant structures of the two countries have to carry out systematic work to promote expansion of interstate ties, they noted.
In this context, President Rahmon noted that Tajikistan attached significance to expansion of cooperation with Uzbekistan.
The two sides pointed to the necessity of strengthening neighborly and mutually beneficial ties between the two countries.
Rahmon and Karimov also exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues being of mutual interest, including the current situation in Afghanistan.
At the end of the meeting, Emomali Rahmon expressed his thanks to Islam Karimov for the warm reception and invited to him to pay visit to Tajikistan at any time convenient for him.
Legal foundation of bilateral relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan includes more than 100 cooperation agreements determining the main principles of bilateral relations.
We will recall that Tajik President Emomali Rahmon held talks with his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov in Dushanbe on September 10, 2014 on the 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.
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.
Uzbekistan has halted natural gas supplies to Tajikistan. Uzbekistan reportedly uses the energy arm to curb Tajikistan in the Roghun Dam dispute.
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.
