President urges faster rollout of ID card border crossings with Tajikistan
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President calls for quicker launch of ID card border crossings with Tajikistan
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said the introduction of border crossings with Tajikistan using ID cards should be accelerated during talks with Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin in Samarkand on Monday. Muhriddin had come to Uzbekistan to take part in the C5+1 Ministerial Meeting.
The discussions focused on ways to strengthen friendship, good-neighborliness and alliance between the two countries. The sides noted rising trade and freight flows, as well as more active joint projects in energy, industry, agriculture and water management.
Mirziyoyev recalled that the border between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan was once closed and that there were no trade ties or close relations like those seen today.
“There is hardly a family in Uzbekistan or Tajikistan that is not linked to the other side through ties of kinship. We must also speed up implementation of border crossing with ID cards, because freight volumes keep growing and there is a real need to resolve this issue,” the president said.
The meeting also highlighted the importance of expanding cultural, humanitarian, educational and tourism exchanges.
Muhriddin said President Emomali Rahmon views the comprehensive development of relations with Uzbekistan as one of the priorities of his country’s foreign policy.
On Nov. 20, 2024, Mirziyoyev told a Legislative Chamber session that Uzbeks would be given the option of traveling to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan with ID cards. He said at the time that such an arrangement was already in place between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.