Kabul Says Afghanistan Will Sign Agreement On Strategic Partnership With Tajikistan

Afghanistan says it plans to sign a strategic partnership agreement with neighboring Tajikistan.

The Afghan Foreign Ministry made the announcement on September 17, but did not specify when and where the document would be signed.

The statement came hours after visiting acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Mohammad Haneef Atmar held talks with his Tajik counterpart Sirojiddin Muhriddin during the first day of his two-day official trip to Dushanbe.

Tajik authorities have not officially said anything about the plan to sign the agreement and have yet to comment on the Afghan Foreign Ministry’s statement.

Tajikistan currently has similar agreements with four countries -- China, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan.

Atmar stressed during the talks with Muhriddin that his country needs a resumption of electricity supplies from Tajikistan, which Dushanbe cut by 90 percent in late July due to an abrupt decrease in water levels at reservoirs used by its major hydroelectric power station.

The sides also discussed the construction of new transportation routes connecting Afghanistan with Tajikistan and other Central Asian nations.