Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

A railway communication between Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan will be launched soon.

The information on the opening of the Tashkent-Bishkek-Balykchy railway was announced by the government representative in the parliament Ashyrbek Temirbaev at a meeting on December 28.

In accordance with the agreement, this train will run once a week, he said.

The exact schedule of the train on the route Tashkent - Bishkek - Balykchy, which will operate during the tourist season, was revealed, according to the press service of the Kyrgyz Temir Jolu.

The train will run once a week by the Uzbek railways. It will travel on Saturdays from Tashkent starting from June 16 till August 25.

As for the proposal to open a Bishkek-Jalal-Abad message, the government will take note of this remark, Temirbaev added.

Since December 23, Air Manas company has launched Bishkek-Tashkent and Osh-Tashkent flights.

On December 25, the delegation of Kyrgyzstan discussed with the Uzbek side the issue of setting up bus routes Osh-Kokon, Osh-Andijan, Osh-Fergana, as well as to Jalal-Abad and Kyzyl-Kiya from Uzbekistan, according to the officical.

“Such decisions were agreed during the official visit of Sooronbai Jeenbekov to Uzbekistan,” he said.

Uzbek-Kyrgyz ties were quite strained in the last years of Islam Karimov’s presidency. The common border of two nations, more than 1,300 kilometers, was almost entirely closed.

Since Mirziyoyev took over, relation between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan started to gradually improve and reached a high level following a number of visits at the highest level.

Both countries now aim to improve regional connectivity and cooperation in the Central Asian region. In this regard, establishment of the transportation links are of high importance.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz