Government officials from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan at last finalized a border delimitation agreement during a meeting at the Ala-Archa state residence in Bishkek on February 21. The meeting, spearheaded by Saimumin Yatimov, the head of Tajikistan’s security services, and Kamchybek Tashiev, the head of Kyrgyzstan’s security services, “occurred in an atmosphere of friendship and mutual understanding,” according to a Kyrgyz government statement.
In addition to demarcating the border between the two countries, the officials agreed on the future development of interstate roads and the management of power generation facilities and water resources along the border. The only issue that remains unresolved at this point is establishing border controls at five road crossings connecting Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member Kyrgyzstan to non-members Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. These crossings will need to comply with the EAEU’s external border requirements.
The agreements are headed for final ratification by the countries’ governments and, if successful, might mark the end of contemporary Central Asia’s bloodiest conflict.
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have been in a dispute over properly marking their shared 600-mile border in the Fergana Valley and defining ownership over nearby energy and water resources since acquiring independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The Soviets drew the borders in Central Asia in the 1920s with total disregard for local settlement and migration patterns, creating multiple enclaves of territories of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Connecting roads, water and energy sources, and pastures, which were managed collectively by the valley’s settlers before the Soviet era, became less accessible and disputed among newly formed independent republics.
The simmering post-Soviet dispute over water resources escalated in the increasingly arid region, resulting in armed clashes in April 2021 and a brief war in September 2022. Multiple villages were evacuated on both sides of the frontier and both countries were accused of war crimes. The escalation presented a challenge to the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) that both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are members of and threw into question Moscow’s ability to mediate in the region following its invasion of Ukraine. The conflict quickly led to an information war between the sides and a brief arms race as Kyrgyzstan purchased military drones from Turkiye and Dushanbe convinced Tehran to build a drone production facility in Tajikistan.
But 2023 marked a sudden and rapid diplomatic turnaround as the countries started jointly surveying and renegotiating the mutual border, as well as discussing easing trade barriers and cracking down on the smuggling of goods. The drawn-out process was marked by arguments over which Soviet maps were more accurate in defining the border and with Kyrgyzstan’s calls for Russian President Vladimir Putin to mediate the negotiations. Despite the challenges, on December 4, 2024, the countries finally announced that they had reached a tentative deal, sparking hopes for peace and regional connectivity amid the region’s struggles with climate change and the downstream effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Following the February 21, 2025 border agreement, Kyrgyz officials announced that the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will meet in late March, the first trilateral meeting of its kind, to continue discussing strengthening regional cooperation.