DUSHANBE, September 1, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- On Monday September 1, President Emomali Rahmon sent a telegram of congratulations to his Uzbek counterpart, President Islam Karimov, on occasion of Uzbekistan’s Independence Day, according to presidential press service.

President Rahmon, in particular, noted in his message that Tajikistan values long-standing historical relations of friendship and neighborliness with Uzbekistan.  “Tajikistan highly appraises the present level of cooperation with Uzbekistan and seeks further expansion of Tajik-Uzbek cooperation,” said Rahmon.  “I believe that we will able to provide dynamic development of our relationships, meeting interests of the peoples of the two countries and being an important factor of peace and stability in the region, through joint efforts.”   

The Tajik head of state expressed hope that meetings held in Dushanbe on sidelines of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will give new impulse to further expansion of cooperation between the two countries.