Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are considering the option of exchanging territories to resolve the border issue, stated Marat Imankulov, the Secretary of the Security Council of the Kyrgyz Republic, in an interview with the "Kabar" news agency.
"The demarcation work with Tajikistan is nearing completion. Of course, the process is not moving as fast as we would like. We have experienced two conflicts, unfortunately, with losses among both civilians and military personnel. People are concerned, there is fear in the border areas. This is from both our side and their side," he said.
According to him, the challenge lies in the fact that the border in the Batken region passes through complex areas, including populated areas.
The Secretary of the Security Council of the Kyrgyz Republic added that all processes related to defining borders should proceed peacefully.
He emphasized, "Once we settle the borders, it will be easier, and maybe we will even open them. Our people have always lived like this. The economy and trade have always been free-flowing. Especially now, in such times, we need to establish joint ventures. There are plenty of projects overall. We need to finalize the border issue and move forward peacefully."
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have been in negotiations on the delimitation and demarcation of the state border since 2002. However, they intensified their work in this direction in the last two years, following major armed conflicts with numerous casualties.
In 2023, surveying teams held 15 meetings, resulting in the description of 169.48 km of the border.
In February, the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, informed the Kyrgyz Foreign Minister, Jeenbek Kulubaev, during a meeting that the sides have determined around 90% of the border line out of the total length.
Subsequently, the working groups announced the agreement on several more kilometers, but it is unknown how many kilometers are left to be agreed upon. The working groups also do not disclose the details of the negotiations and the terms of agreeing on the sections, so the population and the media are also unclear about the methods being used and the outcomes reached by the parties.
The total length of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border is 972 kilometers. Earlier reports indicated that all work on defining the border between the two countries would be completed by March of this year.
