On November 21, 2021, in Dushanbe, within the framework of participation in the dialogue "European Union - Central Asia", the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Ruslan Kazakbaev held a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan Sirojiddin Mukhriddin.

A constructive exchange of views took place on currently important issues on the agenda of Kyrgyz-Tajik relations and prospects for further building up mutually beneficial joint activities including international multilateral platforms were outlined.

The Ministers were unanimous about the existence of a large number of mechanisms for interaction. In order to effectively address priority tasks and further deepen bilateral cooperation, the need was emphasized to increase the efficiency of work within the framework of the Interstate Coordination Council, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the two countries, deputy groups of Parliaments, Kyrgyz-Tajik Intergovernmental Commissions on the comprehensive consideration of bilateral issues and on delimitation and demarcation the Kyrgyz-Tajik state border, as well as inter-ministerial consultations at the level of deputy foreign ministers.

During the meeting, Minister R. Kazakbaev emphasized that the Kyrgyz side is aiming at the earliest possible completion of the legal formalization of the Kyrgyz-Tajik state border, which will have a positive impact on the entire range of relations between the two countries.

Particular attention was paid to the issues of protecting the rights and interests of citizens of the two countries. In this vein, the Kyrgyz side proposed to hold consular consultations with the involvement of representatives of the authorized bodies of the prosecutor's office, penal system, border agencies, as well as reinstitute the practice of holding coordination meetings of the authorized bodies of the two countries. The parties agreed on the need to institute immediate working groups between the Prosecutor General's Offices, the Ministries of Internal Affairs and other law enforcement bodies for the early resolution of emerging issues to protect the rights and interests of citizens of the two countries.

In addition, R. Kazakbaev drew the attention of his Tajik colleague to the need to continue active joint work to build confidence among the local population of the border regions of the two countries in order to ensure stability and security in the border area.

The conversation participants discussed the prospects for economic cooperation, as well as issues of facilitating mutual trips of citizens and liberalizing the implementation of freight traffic between countries.

Touching upon issues of cultural and humanitarian cooperation, the heads of the foreign ministries noted the significant role of organizing mutual Days of Culture, joint sports events, maintaining contacts at the level of youth and academia.

The parties expressed their firm intention to work together in order to further expand and deepen the historically established relations of friendship and good-neighborliness between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan and to resolve all controversial issues exclusively by political and diplomatic methods.