Foreign Ministers of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan discussed the situation in the border areas

On 29 April 2021, at the initiative of the Kyrgyz side the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan Sirojiddin Muhriddin had a telephone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Ruslan Kazakbaev. The foreign ministers thoroughly discussed the aggravated situation that arose in the border regions of the two countries on 28-29 April 2021.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan noted that the development of relations with neighbors in the region, with which Tajikistan is bound by centuries-old ties of friendship and good-neighborliness, is a priority of the country's foreign policy.

S. Muhriddin stressed that Tajikistan is resolutely determined to seek for mutually acceptable solutions through negotiations taking into account its national interests, and to progressively resolve issues related to the delimitation and demarcation of the state border line with Kyrgyzstan. At the same time, he emphasized that Tajikistan will never cede the lands that originally and legally belong to it.

During the conversation, the ministers stressed the importance of resolving all issues of the state border exclusively through negotiations and noted the inadmissibility of attempts at provocations by certain interested parties, which lead to a further escalation of the situation.

The ministers noted that the lack of confidence in the border areas could incite new incidents and entail serious consequences, in particular, civilian casualties in the two neighboring states.

The foreign ministers agreed that it is necessary to show strong political will in dealing with complex issues of the state border.