BISHKEK. Aug 17 (Interfax) - The final delimitation of the border with Uzbekistan and the elaboration of a transitional border delimitation treaty will help alleviate tensions between the two countries, Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister for security issues Jenish Razakov said.
"Believe me that border tensions will be reduced exponentially," Razakov told reporters on Thursday.
The Kyrgyz-Uzbek negotiations held in Bishkek on August 16 "were a historic event: the intergovernmental commission on border delimitation and demarcation resumed its activity after a ten-year pause," he said.
"Most importantly, both sides expressed their determination to finish the work [border delimitation] on terms of neighborliness and respect for each others rights. The meeting between Kyrgyz and Uzbek delegations produced a protocol, which said that the sides were ready to apply the draft of a preliminary delimitation treaty to approximately 84% of the border," Razakov said.
"This is a great success, although the sides will still have to deal with technical issues and bring their efforts to a logical conclusion. Treaty preparation will also take some time," he said.
The transitional border delimitation treaty will define over 1,170 kilometers of the 1,378 kilometer border; these are areas on which the sides have reached consensus, Razakov said.
He promised to step up delimitation of the remaining border sectors, including disputed ones.
The transitional border delimitation treaty will enable Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to prepare for final legal definition and demarcation of the border, which "will put an end to all conflicts arising from people's unawareness of where the border is and to whom a particular territory belongs," Razakov said.
The Kyrgyz-Uzbek intergovernmental commissions on bilateral cooperation and border delimitation and demarcation met in Bishkek on August 16. The trade and economic cooperation commission had not met since December 2009, and the border delimitation commission last met in 2006.
The sides have expressed their preparedness to sign a transitional border delimitation treaty with respect to 1,170.53 kilometers of the state border.