News Highlight
Nearly 100 people have been killed and injured in violent border clashes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan over the last week.
Key Takeaway
- A ceasefire was agreed upon on Friday, brokered by Russia.
- The two landlocked countries share a 1,000km long border, a large part of which is disputed.
- The Batken and Osh region of Kyrgyzstan is the most affected.
Border dispute between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
- The clashes are replaying old pre and post Soviet era legacies.
- The borders of the two republics were demarcated under Joseph Stalin’s leadership.
- Both nations had claimed the area around the water supply facility in Kok-Tash, a dispute dating back decades to when they were both parts of the Soviet Union.
- After the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) collapsed in late 1991 – Soviet map makers drew the dividing lines for Soviet republics, which is now the current configuration of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.
- The meandering boundary between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is particularly tense as over a third of its 1,000-km length is disputed. Restrictions on access to land and water that communities regard as theirs have often led to deadly clashes in the past.
- Russia and the European Union (EU) welcomed the ceasefire deal and emphasised the need for a lasting and peaceful solution.
Kyrgyzstan
- Kyrgyzstan, or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia.
- Capital-Bishkek
- Border:
- Kazakhstan-North
- Uzbekistan-West
- Tajikistan-South
- China-East
Tajikistan
- Tajikistan is a country in Central Asia.
- Capital-Dushanbe.
- Border:
- Afghanistan-South
- China-East
- Kyrgyzstan-North
- Uzbekistan-West
Pic Courtesy: TASS
Content Source: The Hindu