Afghanistan-Tajikistan moves closer to mend ties

Top official of Afghanistan’s national electric utility company, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) has signed an electricity purchase agreement with Tajikistan for the year 2024.

Chief Executive Officer of DABS, Mullah Muhammad Hanif Hamza, and Chairman of Tajikistan Electricity Company, Mohammad Omar Asazada had signed the agreement. During the meeting which was held in Turkey, the two officials also discussed the possibility of extending a new 500 KV transmission line from Tajikistan to Afghanistan. Asazada expressed interest in pursuing this extension, while Hamza also shed light upon CASA-1000 project, and requested Asazaa that Tajikistan should resume cooperation, coordination and implantation of this electricity project.

The agreement comes when the government of Tajikistan did not recognize the Taliban government yet, rather Tajikistan has built more checkpoints on the bordering areas with Afghanistan to prevent the infiltration of insurgents.

CASA-1000 power project is essential for Afghanistan

CASA-1000, is formally known as the Central Asia-South Asian power project worth around $1.6 billion, and will transform power from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

This CASA-1000 project is very crucial for a country like Afghanistan which has been troubled by energy deficits for many years. This project will create hope for reaching a self-sustaining energy security in Afghanistan. With implantation of this project, Afghanistan would also be able to reduce its total reliance upon imported power.

In October 2022, the then CEO of DABA, Hafiz Mohamamd Amin visited Dushanbe and signed a contract for purchasing electricity at a cost of $69 million. The agreement was made possible after two days of negotiation with Tajiki officials.

At that time, it was announced that Tajikistan will supply Afghanistan with 1.5 billion KWH of electricity. The former republic government had signed a 20 years electricity export contract to Afghanistan in 2018, but after the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, relations between the two neighbors somehow deteriorated.

Unfolding tensions between Kabul and Dushanbe

At the same time, the then CEO of DABS Amin traveled to Uzbekistan and held a detailed-discussion with Dadajon Isakulov, head of the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan, resulting in a new agreement.

The two officials signed a electricity contract worth $100 million and Afghanistan received 2 billion KWH electricity from Uzbekistan last year.

However, reduction in export of electricity to Afghanistan came when Taliban defense minister Mohammad Yaqoob called on Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to return the Afghan Air Forces aircraft that the Afghan pilots flew out of the country on 15 August 2021. These pilots fled to the two neighboring countries following the withdrawal of US troops and the collapse of the Afghan republic government. However, both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan refrained from sending back these helicopters.

Pilots fleeing Afghanistan flew a sizable portion of the Afghan Air Force, including Embraer A-29 Super Tucano and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.

There were around 164 active military aircraft before the collapse in August but right now only 81 remain in the country. According to reports, 46 aircraft landed in Uzbekistan and 16 others in Tajikistan. At that time, relations between Kabul and Dushanbe had deteriorated to the point that even Tajik president Emomali Rahmon accused Taliban of monopolizing the power, and called for establishment of an inclusive government in Afghanistan to be acceptable for all.

He blamed the Taliban for ignoring the rights of ethnic Tajiks in Afghanistan, but in return, the Taliban warned Tajikistan not to interfere in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan and Tajikistan mending ties

However, on September 2, 2023, Rahmon had suddenly ordered that border markets between Afghanistan and Tajikistan should be reopened after nearly two years of closure. These border markets reopened in Khorog, Darvaz, Vanj, and Ishkashim districts of Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan region for business with Afghanistan.

Since August 2021, the movement across the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border has officially suspended, and all the markets were closed.

However, the announcement to reopen the border markets is considered as a sing of potential normalization of relations between the two neighbors.

Not only Tajikistan, but most of the Central Asian States have opted for engagement with the Taliban and agreed to explore trade and investment opportunities.

Afghanistan going dark serves no one

The Taliban are the reality of today’s Afghanistan. They are running a country of nearly 40 million people. Indeed, Afghanistan has been going through its most difficult time. Women have been prevented from going to workplaces and girls over sixth grade from schools. This has to be changed and the Taliban must observe and respect human rights. But at the same time, Afghanistan is in dire need of help from foreign countries, especially the neighbors and regional countries. It is good that Tajikistan has agreed to export more electricity to Afghanistan in 2024 and also opened its border markets that definitely helps the Afghan civilians. In the context of the electricity outages, pushing Afghanistan toward darkness will serve no one’s interest.