Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have reached agreements on visa relations and on the most controversial section of the state boundary - the Farhad Dam, a source in the government said.
The sides reportedly agreed that the territory on which the Farhad Dam is located will be recognized as the territory of Tajikistan, and the hydropower station itself will be recognized as the property of Uzbekistan. The security of the facility will be ensured by Tajikistan, and its technical maintenance will be carried out by Uzbekistan.
According to the source, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will sign an agreement "On mutual trips of citizens," according to which citizens of the two countries will be able to stay one month without visa. In addition, the sides reiterated their intentions to launch in the near of train and bus services between the countries, and new border checkpoints.
The meetings of the Tajikistan and Uzbekistan Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation and the Joint Tajik-Uzbek Intergovernmental Commission on the State Border Delienation, held in Dushanbe on Wednesday, considered a wide range of issues and prospects for advancing the bilateral ties, and were “effective, fruitful and promising”, the source added.
Following the meetings, the relevant ministries and departments of the two states were instructed to start drafting bilateral accords on cooperation in transport, communications, trade, economy, and border issues, which will reportedly be signed during the state visit of the Uzbek president to Dushanbe, scheduled for early spring, the source concluded.
