Kyrgyzstan is seeking support from Tajikistan for helping ethnic Kyrgyz living in the Afghan Pamirs. 

Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Aslov met with his Kyrgyz counterpart Erlan Abdyldayev in Kyrgyzstan’s Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on April 6 on the sidelines of a meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers.

According to Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry, the two sides discussed issues related to state and prospects of bilateral cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, delineation of the mutual border, and cross-border cooperation. 

Aslov and Abdyldayev also exchanged views on a number of international and regional issues being of mutual interest, including the current situation in Afghanistan.

Abdyldayev reportedly asked Aslov to assist the Kyrgyz side with delivering humanitarian aid to ethnic Kyrgyz living in Afghanistan’s Little and Big Pamirs. 

The Little Pamir is a broad U-shaped grassy valley in the eastern part of the Wakhan in north-eastern Afghanistan.  The valley is 100 km long and 10 km wide, and is bounded to the north by the Nicholas Range, a subrange of the Pamir Mountains.

The Big or Great Pamir is a broad U-shaped grassy valley in the eastern part of the Wakhan in north-eastern Afghanistan and the adjacent part of Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains. The valley is 60 km long, and is bounded to the north by the Southern Alichur Range and to the south by the Nicholas Range and the Wakhan Range.  The Big Pamir is used by Wakhi and Kyrgyz herders for summer pasture.