Uzbek diplomats in Dushanbe are doing their part to fuel an international row over the “so-called delays” of freight transiting Uzbekistan for Tajikistan. Tashkent says it is doing everything possible to allow goods bound for Tajikistan to pass through the country’s territory without hindrance. Tajiks, however, from blighted businessmen to angry officials, sharply disagree.
Since January, hundreds of wagons have been delayed on the Uzbek side of the border, often held for weeks or more. Independent observers say that Tashkent is punishing Dushanbe for trying to build a large hydropower dam upstream, Rogun. The Uzbeks say this is absurd.
“Despite measures being taken by [the Uzbek state rail company] on the timely passage of train cars with transit freight bound for Tajikistan, Tajik officials and some of the country’s media outlets are continuing to spread ungrounded statements and false accusations against Uzbekistan about the so-called delays of this freight,” the Uzbek embassy in Dushanbe said in a statement cited by uzdaily.uz on August 11.
Moreover, the transit of Tajik freight has increased a whopping 2.7 percent this year, according to the sycophantic uzdaily report.
Uzdaily's blame-shifting, brown-nosing continues: The “ungrounded statements and accusations by representatives of Tajikistan against Uzbekistan undermine the foundation of good-neighborly and partner relations between the two countries and does not help strengthen mutual trust between the sides.”
Trust? Ask a baker at Dushanbe's Green Market, where loafs are shrinking, about trust and international neighborliness.
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