Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev arrived in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on a two-day official visit on September 5.
According to Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz Service, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has called the visit of Shavkat Mirziyoev to Bishkek a "historic event for both nations."
During talks, Atambayev reportedly thanked Mirziyoyev for accepting his invitation to visit Kyrgyzstan.
“Both the Kyrgyz and Uzbek people have been waiting for this visit for more than 20 years. [This visit] will solve many issues as it opens a new era, a new epoch in the relations between our two nations,” Atambayev was quoted as saying by Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz Service.
For his part, Mirziyoyev called Kyrgyzstan his country's “strategic partner,” adding that Uzbekistan's “priority now is improving ties with its neighbors.”
Several agreements were reportedly signed, including a pact on the demarcation of more than 80 percent of the countries' long and tortuous border.
Mirziyoyev's visit is the first official visit by an Uzbek president since late Uzbek President Islam Karimov's trip in 2000.
Ties have been improving since Mirziyoyev came to power in September 2016 following the death of Islam Karimov.
During 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.
The visit comes ahead of an October 15 presidential election in Kyrgyzstan, where Atambayev is barred for running by term limits and has made clear he hopes former Prime Minister Sooronbai Jeenbekov will be elected.
Mirziyoyev, by contrast, was elected to a five-year term in December.
Uzbekistan is the most populous of the five Central Asia’s nations, with about 30 million people.
Kyrgyzstan has a population of about 6 million, including a large ethnic Uzbek minority concentrated in southern regions near the border.
