On March 31, a bilateral meeting was held between the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Honorable Emomali Rahmon, and the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Honorable Sadyr Japarov, who arrived in Khujand on a working visit.

The Head of State, welcoming the high-ranking guest, congratulated him on the International holiday of Navruz, and emphasized that today’s meetings are of particular importance, given the issues under discussion.

Both leaders agreed that the signing of the Protocol on the Exchange of Ratifications of the Treaty on the State Border and the opening of the 500-kV Datka-Khujand power transmission line of the CASA-1000 project between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are historic events.

During the talks, the Heads of the two states comprehensively reviewed the current state and prospects of bilateral relations between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and exchanged views on a wide range of issues related to the development and strengthening of good-neighborly relations between the two countries.

The Heads of State considered it expedient to strengthen bilateral political dialogue at all levels and to give impetus to the enhancement of trade and economic cooperation, with a focus on increasing the volume of trade turnover in accordance with the existing potential of the two countries. In this regard, the importance of taking joint measures to develop border infrastructure, including transport hubs and opening new border crossings in order to expand opportunities for trade and economic relations was stressed. It was considered important to eliminate existing obstacles and simplify border crossing procedures, bolster cooperation in the fields of investment, water, energy and agriculture, as well as in the sector of industrial cooperation.

In this context, attention was paid to activating the work of intergovernmental structures to review the entire range of bilateral relations, and the issue of holding the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Council at the level of Prime Ministers in the near future was discussed. It is worth noting that the decision to establish this Council was made during high-level meetings and negotiations in Bishkek within the framework of the state visit of the Leader of the Nation, His Excellency Emomali Rahmon to Kyrgyzstan.

The parties also paid attention to strengthening cultural and humanitarian relations, especially in the fields of science and education, culture, tourism and sports.

They also exchanged views on the continuation of coordination of the positions of the two countries within international and regional organizations.

The negotiations were held in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and in a constructive spirit.