Kyrgyz, Tajik reps confirm intention to resolve border delimitation issue at meeting in Isfara
OSH/BISHKEK. Feb 7 (Interfax) - The Kyrgyz-Tajik intergovernmental commission for delimitation and demarcation of the state border has held a meeting in the Tajik city of Isfara, the Kyrgyz government's press service told Interfax in a statement on Thursday.
"A session of the two countries' intergovernmental commission for delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border took place in Isfara on February 4-5. It was noted during the meeting that the two republics share a common understanding and a willingness to resolve the issues of the state border's delimitation and demarcation with the aim of further strengthening bilateral relations," the statement said.
Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Zhenish Razakov and Tajik Deputy Prime Minister Azim Ibrohim headed their countries' delegations to the meeting, it said.
"Razakov and other members of the Kyrgyz delegation are in the Batken region to continue working to resolve the border issues," the statement said.
Razakov and Ibrohim held a working meeting at the Kyzyl-Bel border crossing on January 14. At the meeting, the sides signed a protocol setting the deadline of March 1 for deciding on options for reciprocal exchange of territories at the Samarkandek and Kok-Tash districts.
Kyrgyz media outlets reported on Thursday that the Kyrgyz authorities had approved the transfer of 1.4 hectares of land in the Samarkandek district to Tajikistan.
The Kyrgyz government, for its part, declined to comment on this information.
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan share a 971-kilometer border. The countries first opened border delimitation talks in the early 1990s then suspended them, resuming them only in 2017. They have already delimited 583 kilometers.