The Format of Eternal Friendship: From Economics to Security

**The Format of Eternal Friendship: From Economics to Security**

On August 23, Presidents Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan signed the Treaty of Eternal Friendship. For Tashkent, this is the first such bilateral document in 26 years; the previous one was concluded with Tajikistan in 2000.

The newspaper "Gazeta" analyzed how the content of such documents has evolved over the past three decades: from economic integration and security issues in the 1990s to border settlement, regional connectivity, and strategic partnership in more recent agreements.

The first in this series was the Treaty of Eternal Friendship and Cooperation between Uzbekistan and Turkey, signed on May 8, 1996, in Tashkent. The document's title emphasizes not only "eternal friendship" but also specific cooperation. The parties emphasized historical, cultural, and linguistic affinities, as well as mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference in internal affairs.

For Tashkent, this was one of the first significant documents shaping the foreign policy architecture of independent Uzbekistan. The treaty laid the foundation for the development of political, economic, humanitarian, and other ties with Turkey.

The Treaty of Eternal Friendship between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan was signed on December 24, 1996, in Tashkent and entered into force on November 30, 1998, after ratification by both parties.

This document, like the treaty with Turkey, mentions the historical, cultural, and linguistic affinities of the two peoples. However, particular emphasis is placed on economic cooperation within the framework of the Single Economic Space and the establishment of direct ties between economic entities of the two countries.

Another key feature is the security provisions. The parties pledged to prevent the use of their territories for armed aggression or hostile activity against each other, and to hold consultations in the event of a threat of attack from third countries. The development of military cooperation is also specifically provided for.

Thus, the Kyrgyz-Uzbek treaty combined several areas: historical and cultural affinity, economic integration, and elements of mutual security.

The Treaty of Eternal Friendship between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan was signed on October 31, 1998, in Tashkent and entered into force on January 17, 2000. One of the key features of this document is its separate treatment of the state border. The parties recognized the existing administrative-territorial border as the basis of the state border and agreed to establish a joint commission to formalize issues related to its regime.

This Treaty of Eternal Friendship replaced the earlier 1992 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance. Today, this document remains one of the foundational documents in relations between the two countries, although it was later supplemented by the 2013 Treaty of Strategic Partnership and the 2022 Treaty of Allied Relations.

Uzbekistan's next bilateral treaty of eternal friendship was the one with Tajikistan. It was signed on June 15, 2000, in Dushanbe and entered into force on March 28, 2001. The document also cemented relations based on respect for independence and sovereignty.

It prominently emphasizes mutual support, primarily in preventing threats to independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

Compared to earlier treaties, this one places a particularly strong emphasis on political and regional security. At the same time, the treaty became the foundation for further rapprochement between Tashkent and Dushanbe. In 2018, the parties signed a strategic partnership agreement, in 2022 a declaration on strengthening eternal friendship and alliance, and in 2024, a treaty on alliance relations. The 2000 treaty itself, however, remains part of the current legal framework between the two countries.

The Treaty of Eternal Friendship between Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, signed on January 10, 1997, in Bishkek, holds a special place. Uzbekistan ratified it in August of that year.

The treaty emerged amid attempts by the three Central Asian states to build closer regional cooperation. Its preamble explicitly states the need to deepen economic cooperation within the Single Economic Space, create direct ties between economic entities, and strengthen political stability and interethnic harmony in the region.

This document can be viewed not simply as the sum of three bilateral friendship treaties, but as an attempt to create a separate regional cooperation architecture for the three Central Asian states.

The presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan signed the Khujand Declaration of Eternal Friendship on March 31, 2025, in Khujand. At the same time, an agreement was signed on the border crossing point of the three countries.

The context of 2025 is significantly different from the late 1990s. While the 1997 trilateral agreement was part of the then-current Central Asian economic integration projects, the Khujand Declaration emerged after a number of complex border issues between the three states had been resolved. Its primary focus is good-neighborliness, mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, building trust, and joint development of the region.

The very fact that the declaration was signed simultaneously with the border agreement symbolized the transition from the resolution of territorial disputes to closer regional cooperation.

The Treaty of Eternal Friendship between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan was signed on August 23, 2026, in Tashkent during the visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

The uniqueness of the document is that it does not create, but rather confirms, a strategic partnership or alliance between the two countries: these relations were already enshrined in the 2024 Treaty of Alliance Relations. The new document gives them an additional long-term foundation.

The agreement explicitly states that the two countries' relations are based on eternal friendship, mutual trust, strategic partnership, and alliance. The parties also support each other's right to independently choose development paths and models in accordance with national realities.

The new agreement significantly links political affinity with the modern economic and transport agenda – logistics, transit, the digital economy, e-commerce, space technology, and energy. This is consistent with the current level of relations between Baku and Tashkent and their interest in developing transport links between Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

As a result, over the past 30 years, the essence of the "eternal friendship" formula in Uzbekistan's diplomacy has evolved: from economic integration and security issues in the 1990s to strengthening mutual trust and border regulation, and then to regional rapprochement and alliance. The agreement with Azerbaijan continues this evolution, consolidating the existing strategic partnership and complementing it with economic, transport, and humanitarian agendas.