Kyrgyzstan said on Thursday that it had signed a historic deal with Tajikistan to swap contested territory, bringing to a close a decades-old border dispute that has resulted in intermittent fighting since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The two Central Asian states have battled over water and other resource access in the isolated mountainous area since achieving independence in 1991. Although the two countries had earlier on consented to border demarcation in December, details of concessions involving territory had been kept secret until now.
Kyrgyzstan Acquires 25 Sq KM in Return for Land and Access to Water
Kamchybek Tashiev, director of Kyrgyzstan’s secret service, said that according to the deal, Kyrgyzstan will be given about 25 square kilometers (10 square miles) by Tajikistan. In return, Kyrgyzstan will give up land and provide easier access to common water resources.
“Talks have come to the last stage and can be discussed openly from today,” Tashiev said to the Kyrgyz parliament.
The accord currently awaits ratification by parliament, followed by approval by the president. Once signed by both presidents in the final draft, the two countries will have a formally drawn treaty between them.
Neutral Roads, Relocations, and Resource Sharing
Under the pact, some of the disputed roads will be created as neutral grounds, open to both nations. Also, the oil wells are to be shared under new sharing agreements.
authorities will resettle residents of villages that are exchanged, some to be destroyed and rebuilt elsewhere. The two parties also agreed on facilitating access to a major canal crucial for farming, a critical sector in the two countries.
A Step Towards Regional Stability
The tensions at the border are traced back to Soviet-era administrative demarcations, which were never formally agreed. The violence was most intense in 2022, which resulted in dozens of deaths and large-scale villager displacement.
This agreement is the upgraded diplomatic relations of Central Asia’s five former Soviet republics—Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. This comes after an uncommon meeting of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon during a UN conference in 2023, setting the stage for the negotiations.
By this resolution, both nations are making a big leap toward sustained regional peace and cooperation.