The agreement on the Uzbek-Turkmen water management commission was signed between the governments of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan on May 26 as part of the visit of the Uzbek government delegation to Ashgabat, the Foreign Ministry said.

In addition, an addendum was signed to the agreement between the governments of the two countries on paid land use.

The documents were endorsed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers/Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov.

The parties expressed confidence that the signing of the documents will serve as a breakthrough in the joint exploitation of transboundary water resources on a rational and fair basis, in the spirit of friendship and good neighborliness.

At the second consultative meeting of the heads of state of Central Asia in 2019, the parties separately focused on the problem of water resources.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev called for the development of coordinated approaches to solving water use problems based on common long-term interests. The Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov then said that the countries of the region should unite forces to ensure equal and fair access to water resources. “Secondary, local interests and benefits should give way to understanding regional goals and priorities and developing, on this basis, a unified strategy of action for the long term,” he said.

EU Special Representative for Central Asia Peter Burian recently noted that in order to resolve conflict situations in the region, countries need not only to use water more economically, but also to agree on a fair division of water resources and access to them, taking into account the interests of upstream and downstream countries of mountain rivers.