The Coordination Commission for Water Management Issues between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan held its fourth online meeting on Sunday, November 22.
Representatives of the State Committee for Water Resources and the State Border Service of Turkmenistan took part from the Turkmen side. On the Afghan side, Deputy Minister of Water Resources for Technical Issues and National Water Regulation Department Weiss Ahmad Basiri chaired the meeting.
The parties discussed issues of interaction in the field of equitable use of the Amu Darya, Murgab and Tejen rivers.
The relevance of this topic is due to the fact that in Central Asia, the main sources of water resources used for agriculture and industry, electricity production, and drinking water supply to the population are rivers. And practically all of them Amu Darya, Mugab, Tejen, Sumbar, Etrek are transboundary.
The meeting participants spoke in favor of further strengthening and developing cooperation in the field of joint use of transboundary water resources based on the norms and principles of international law and mutual consideration of the interests of the parties.
Water diplomacy is a significant vector of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy. International initiatives voiced by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov from the rostrum of the UN General Assembly and other major forums are aimed at enhancing regional and interregional dialogue on the entire spectrum of water issues.
In particular, this concerns the development of a mutually acceptable mechanism for the integrated and balanced use of transboundary water resources, which should be resolved solely on the basis of generally recognized norms and principles of international law, taking into account the interests of all states in the region.