Uzbekistan-Tajikistan: commitment to deepening cooperation based on the principles of good neighborliness and mutual trust

On April 18-19, at the invitation of President Emomali Rahmon, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will pay a state visit to Tajikistan.

Being closest neighbors, whose peoples are historically and culturally inextricably linked with each other, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have raised their relations to the level of strategic partnership and alliance. The historic Declaration on strengthening eternal friendship and alliance between the countries was signed on June 3, 2022 during the official visit of the President of Tajikistan to Uzbekistan.

A huge role in the development of mutually beneficial fruitful cooperation is played by the close and constructive political dialogue established between the leaders of the two countries, supported by regular meetings in a bilateral format and within the framework of multilateral meetings.

Thus, over the past six years, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited Tajikistan twice on state (March, 2018) and official (June, 2021) visits. The head of Tajikistan also visited our country on state and official visits in 2018 and 2022, respectively. The fruitful results of these visits gave a powerful impetus to strengthening comprehensive multifaceted cooperation, warm and friendly relations between the peoples of the two countries.

Along with this, the leaders of the two states regularly meet on the sidelines of important multilateral forums - Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia, CIS summits, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Economic Cooperation Organization, “Central Asia+” formats and others.

In this context, I would like to draw special attention to the importance of such an effective cooperation mechanism initiated by the President of Uzbekistan as the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia. Launched in 2017 and now becoming traditional, this mechanism made it possible in a short period to resolve problematic issues that have existed for many years that have hampered the fruitful development of cooperation, and to fully reveal the potential of the region. Thanks to consolidation, Central Asia began to be perceived in the international arena as a single region, and, as a result, the world community’s interest in partnership with the Central Asian states is growing.

At the fifth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of our region, held on September 14, 2023 in Dushanbe, President Emomali Rahmon said that the anniversary summit was another confirmation of the strong political will of the Central Asian countries to comprehensively strengthen interstate cooperation in the interests of fraternal peoples.

Thus, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are steadily demonstrating a strong commitment to solving the accumulated problems of the region that have hampered the development of its rich economic and human potential, as well as to deepening bilateral cooperation based on the principles of good neighborliness, mutual trust, equality, respect and mutual consideration of interests. Both countries support each other’s candidacies and initiatives within international organizations; their positions on many pressing issues on the global agenda are the same or close.

An important area of mutually beneficial Uzbek-Tajik cooperation is the development of inter-parliamentary relations. Cooperation between the parliaments of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is an important mechanism for deepening mutual friendship and good neighborliness, increasing the efficiency and effective control of the implementation of bilateral agreements, and also promotes the exchange of experience in the field of lawmaking.

Bilateral cooperation at a high level has also intensified, interdepartmental relations are characterized by a high dynamics of exchange of visits, experience and joint events. The foreign policy departments of the two countries regularly hold political consultations, and productive interaction has been established between the transport administrations, other ministries and departments of the two countries.

We can say with full confidence that the last 7 years have become breakthrough years for Tashkent and Dushanbe in achieving positive results in the field of trade and economic cooperation.

At the 11th meeting of the joint Uzbek-Tajik Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, held on March 11-12 this year in Dushanbe, the parties noted a significant increase in bilateral trade and an increase in its volumes tenfold in recent years. Thus, bilateral trade turnover in January-February of this year reached almost $120 million, demonstrating an increase of almost 40% compared to the same period last year. The range of trade turnover has expanded significantly, which was largely facilitated by the opening of border trade centers.