08/February/2023   Central Asia

The high level of political dialogue has become a driving force for the progressive development of mutually beneficial cooperation between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan

TASHKENT, February 8. /“Dunyo” IA/. This opinion was expressed by the First Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan Akramjon Nematov, who addressed the roundtable discussion on “Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan: New prospects for the strategic partnership”, held on February 7 this year in Tashkent and timed to coincide with the results of the state visit of the President of Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Kyrgyzstan, reports “Dunyo” IA correspondent.

The expert stressed that it was thanks to the good political will of the leaders of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan that an atmosphere of mutual trust and mutual understanding in relations between the states was formed in a short period. This made it possible, in a constructive spirit, based on the principles of mutual respect and consideration of each other’s interests, to search for and find mutually acceptable compromises on all complex nodal issues that have been a permanent source of tension in interstate relations for many years. “These are issues of determining the line of the state border, land use, exploitation of resources of transboundary watercourses, interaction in energy”, the ISRS representative noted.

At the same time, Akramjon Nematov noted that the established high level of political dialogue has become a key driving force for the progressive development of mutually beneficial cooperation. To this end, regular contacts were maintained not only at the level of heads of state, but also governments, parliaments, and instruments of public diplomacy were used. In particular, already in 2017, at the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, three mutual visits of heads of state took place from September to December, which moved the solution of pressing issues from the “dead point”. A general political line was defined, the essence of which was that no acute issue should become an obstacle, but, on the contrary, should be a subject for dialogue.

In the same year, eight years after the break, the Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, Cultural and Humanitarian Cooperation resumed its work, and its activities were coordinated directly by the prime ministers of the two countries.

Along with this, Akramjon Nematov added that the Interparliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Jokorgu Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic began its activity in 2018 for the first time, a new format of cooperation was launched a year earlier – the Council of Hokims of the Border Regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan and plenipotentiary representatives of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic in the border regions.

The speaker noted the readiness of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to further progressively develop cooperation. In this regard, during the state visit, the parties agreed to create an Interstate Council, which will give an even more stable character to the political dialogue and additional dynamics to fill the practical content of the comprehensive strategic partnership.

According to him, the intensification of existing and the formation of new mechanisms of bilateral cooperation have brought to a qualitatively new level the maintenance of a systematic political dialogue and the organization of practical interaction, which has become a key factor in strengthening mutual trust between states. “This, in turn, has significantly expanded the capabilities of our countries to jointly reveal all the untapped potential of cooperation, increased the resilience of our states to external and internal challenges”, Akramjon Nematov concluded.

The Uzbekistan – Kyrgyzstan roundtable discussion, organized by the International Institute for Central Asia together with the Committee on International Affairs and Interparliamentary Relations of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, was attended by diplomats, deputies, experts from leading scientific and analytical centers, as well as representatives of ministries and agencies of the two countries.