A new border crossing point (BCP) is expected to begin operating along the Tajik-Uzbek border in the near future.
The new transit point will operate on the border between Tajikistan’s Hisor district and Uzbekistan’s Uzun district, a source in the Tajik government told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, the new BCP “Babatag” will not have an international status. The new BCP will operate only in the daytime.
Border services of both countries continue exploring the possibility of opening new border crossings along the mutual border, the source added.
According to the preliminary data, from three to fifteen new transit points can be launched along the Tajik-Uzbek border this year.
An agreement on opening new transit points along the mutual border was reached during Tajik President Emomali Rahmon’s state visit o Uzbekistan in August last year.
Under a 2002 agreement, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan actually have 16 crossings along their shared border and nine of them have an international status. Twelve BCPs are located in the northern Sughd province and the remaining four BCPs are located in the southern Khatlon province and Tursunzoda district (central Tajikistan).
In the preceding eight years, only two BPCs having international status – “Dousti” in the Tursunzoda district (central Tajikistan) and “Fotehobod” in the Mastchoh district (Sughd province) — were available to the local population. Uzbekistan had sealed the border crossing points along its common border with Tajikistan unilaterally in the 1990s.
Things have taken a turn for the better since Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power in Uzbekistan in 2016.
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan opened the remaining fourteen border crossing points last year.
