Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have formalized an agreement on border security that promises to combat not only violent extremism but also the smuggling of arms, ammunition, drugs, currency and radioactive substances.
In June 2014, Kazakhstan’s Parliament and President Nursultan Nazarbayev ratified a new law between the two countries governing responsibilities on their mutual border, Kazakhstan’s press service Acorda reported.
Under the agreement, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan agreed to designate border commissioners who would act through diplomatic channels to remove longtime barriers to cooperation.
In addition to curtailing smuggling and violent extremism, the agreement outlined the rights and responsibilities of each country for patrolling bodies of water along the border and addressing natural threats such as fires, epidemics and agricultural pests. It also provided for measures to settle border disputes and to monitor compliance with established rules for border crossings.
Ratification of the law was nearly 15 years in the making. The overall goal of the treaty was to “develop friendly relations with the neighboring state border agency,” said Nurlan Zholamanov, deputy chairman of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee.
The countries share a 2,400-kilometer border that traffickers have exploited to transport Afghan heroin and extremists have used to ship arms.
Sources: Kazakhstanskaya Pravda, Tengri News