SIRODJIDDIN MUHRIDDIN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, said that climate-related hazards and disasters could slow or reverse Tajikistan's path towards the realization of the 2030 Agenda and threaten agricultural productivity and food security.  “While we all have been struggling with the consequences of these water-related disasters, we are becoming increasingly aware that water is vital and a resource we must value, protect and manage effectively,” he said.  In that regard, he urged  States to attend the United Nations 2023 Water Conference with new commitments to enrich the water action agenda launched by his country.  His country is also promoting an integrated approach to addressing water and climate issues, including the Water and Climate Coalition, and called on the General Assembly to support an upcoming draft resolution on declaring 2025 as an international year of glaciers' preservation.

Regarding Afghanistan, he said that that country is rapidly becoming a safe haven for terrorist groups and a springboard for spreading the Taliban's radical extremism.  It was also consolidating and creating a new hotbed of tensions near his country’s border of 1,400 kilometres it shares with Afghanistan.  Thus, it was paramount for his country to strengthen its border with Afghanistan.  He also highlighted the issues regarding the Tajik-Kyrgyz border, noting that, on 19 September, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan signed the protocol on the settlement of the situation and ceased hostilities.  Troops and military equipment of both sides were be withdrawn to their places of permanent deployment.  A joint inspection was organized in the border area and a joint task force was set up to monitor the implementation of the agreements reached.  Most importantly, both parties reaffirmed their commitment to resolving all bilateral issues exclusively by political and diplomatic means.

However, he reported that Kyrgyzstan is deviating from the agreements reached, creating a false appearance of withdrawing troops and heavy military equipment from the line of contact by hiding them in populated areas near the border.  “The responsibility for any next round of tension on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border will lie exclusively with Kyrgyzstan,” he said.  Detailing the result of Kyrgyzstan’s military aggression, he said that more than 40 civilians of Tajikistan were killed and about 200 were injured, including devout Muslims — attendants of the mourning ceremony in the mosque.  The parties had reached an agreement on the description of the State border line according to the documents of the national territorial delimitation of 1924-1927 — the only legal framework for continuing the negotiation process.  In order to show goodwill and maximum flexibility, “we met our neighbor halfway and agreed to also use the documents of the 1989 parity commission proposed by Kyrgyzstan”, he noted.  Border issues require the political will of the parties and daily, thoughtful, joint work based on the political will of those parties.  His country was ready to continue negotiations towards building together an atmosphere of peace, friendship and harmony, he affirmed.