13 March 2025
The presidents of Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan, Sadyr Japarov and Emomali Rahmon, signed the
agreement at a meeting in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital,
earlier today, according to media reports.
Closed
since 2021, two checkpoints on the nearly 1,000-km-long
Tajik-Kyrgyz border have now resumed operation, and flights
from Bishkek to Dushanbe and Khujand will begin on
Friday.
‘Historic achievement’
UN chief
António Guterres “congratulates the two countries
on this historic achievement and commends their leadership,
determination and political will to bring the decades-long
negotiation process to a successful conclusion”,
his Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement.
“The
Secretary-General looks forward to sustained constructive
engagement between the two countries to strengthen mutual
trust, good-neighbourly relations and a peaceful future for
their peoples and the region as a whole,” Mr. Dujarric
said.
Resolving past violence
Border tensions
between the two neighbours have erupted in the form of
skirmishes over the past decade, according to news
reports.
In 2022, an escalation of deadly violence
emerged along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border culminating in a
six-day conflict in September. At the time, the UN chief had
called
on the leadership of the two countries to engage in
dialogue for a lasting ceasefire.
Previous flare ups
at the border had reportedly displaced thousands of
people.
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