DUSHANBE, December 22, Asia-Plus  -- Tajikistan does not yet intend to open its consulate in Afghanistan’s Kunduz province in the near future, Davlat Nazri, a spokesman for Tajik MFA, said in an interview with Asia-Plus commenting on a report released by Afghanistan.ru. 

The report released by Afghanistan.ru on December 21, in particular, cited Afghan news agency Bakhtar as saying that Tajikistan plans to open its consulate in Kunduz.  Bakhtar reported that referring on the Afghan Ambassador to Tajikistan Said Mohammad Khairkhoh. 

According to Bakhtar, Afghan diplomat expressed hope that opening of the Tajik consulate in Kunduz would promote resolving problems connected with Tajik visa processing.  It was noted that with opening of the bridge linking Tajikistan’s Nizhny Panj with Afghanistan’s port Sherkhan Bandar a number of applications for Tajik visa had increased.  

The Tajik MFA spokesman noted that Tajikistan had the General Consulate in Mazar-i Sharif.  “We are not yet going to open any other consulate in Afghanistan and we have not yet received any proposal on this subject from the Afghan side,” said Davlat Nazri, “But if such a proposal is introduced, we are ready to study this issue.”   

The spokesman added that the MFA was going to open its consulate department in Khorog, the capital of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (Gorno Badakhshan or GBAO), which will be engaged in Tajik visa application process for citizens of Afghanistan and China.    

Tajikistan now has its diplomatic missions in Afghanistan, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, China, Germany, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, the United States, and Uzbekistan.