Leaders of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan sign pact on junction of countries' borders

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyz leader Sadyr Japarov, and Uzbek Head of State Shavkat Mirziyoyev have signed a treaty establishing the junction point of the three republics' borders, Report informs via TASS.

The signing ceremony took place during a meeting of the heads of state in Khujand, the administrative center of the Sughd Region in northern Tajikistan, a TASS correspondent reports from the scene.

Additionally, the leaders signed the Khujand Declaration of Eternal Friendship. The event was held at the Tajik president’s residence in the town of Guliston near Khujand.

Earlier, the chairman of the Association of Political Scientists of Tajikistan, Professor Sayfullo Safarov, told TASS that the signing of the document would create an opportunity to "strengthen relations in the political, cultural, and economic areas," while also addressing the challenges faced by residents of border regions and enclaves.

The meeting comes amid the final resolution of the border dispute between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. On March 13, after nearly 23 years of negotiations over disputed areas and several conflicts involving local residents and military personnel from both republics, Rahmon and Japarov signed a treaty on the state border in Bishkek. On Monday, the parties exchanged ratification certificates of the agreement.

During the Soviet era, borders between the union republics were largely administrative, with no universally recognized dividing lines. Following the national-territorial demarcation of the Soviet republics of Central Asia from 1924 to 1929, subsequent changes to their borders - including those of present-day Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan - were not legally formalized.

The unresolved status of certain sections of the state borders has long been a source of tension between the neighboring independent republics. Tajikistan’s border with Uzbekistan spans more than 1,330 km, while its border with Kyrgyzstan stretches approximately 980 km. The border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan is around 1,380 km long.