DUSHANBE, May 7, 2014, Asia-Plus -- Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are expected to resume border talks soon.

Kyrgyz Press reports that the Tajik-Kyrgyz commission, co-chaired by vice-premiers of the two countries, will meet in Dushanbe on May 11.

Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister in charge of defense, security and border issues, Abdyrakhman Mamataliyev, was cited as saying that the forthcoming negotiations will focus on issues related to delimitation and demarcation of border.

“It is expected that the issue of construction of the Koktash-Aksai-Tamdyk road in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region will also be discussed,” Mamataliyev was quoted as saying by Kyrgyz Press .

We will recall that five Kyrgyz border guards, one Kyrgyz policeman, and two Tajik border guards were hospitalized with injuries on January 11 after tensions escalated into exchanges of gunfire along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.  The clash started when Tajiks protested Kyrgyzstan’s construction of a bypass road through a disputed area.  Tajikistan has requested to halt the construction of the road until the border is delimited.

Kyrgyzstan recalled its ambassador to Tajikistan and unilaterally closed border crossing points (BCPs) on its common border with Tajikistan.

Border crossing points (BCPs) along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border we reopened in late March and early April. The Karamyk and Bordobo border crossings started functioning fully on March 31 while other BCPs were reopened several days later.