Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev yesterday signed in Bishkek a pact on the demarcation of 85 percent of the countries' border, Kaktus Meduza reports.
Some 230 kilometers of the nearly 1,400-kilometer-long Uzbek-Kyrgyz border are still disputed between the two countries.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that the sides would solve the issue of the remaining 15 percent of the countries’ mutual border in a short space of time.
Dwelling upon the issues of use of water and construction of hydropower plants, Mirziyoyev said that Atambayev had promised that no one hydropower plant would be built in Kyrgyzstan without Uzbekistan participation.
“We will build the Kambarata hydroelectric power plant together. We need it and we will provide financial assistance,” Uzbek president noted.
During Islam Karimov's rule, Uzbekistan was at odds with its neighbors over issues ranging from border disputes and ethnic stand-offs to economic disagreements linked to water distribution and energy transportation across the region.
