UNITED NATIONS, Mar 14 (APP/DNA): UN Secretary-General  Antonion Guterres warmly welcomed the presidential signing of a treaty on Thursday by Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan demarcating their shared frontier, seeking to end a long-running border conflict that has seen dozens killed in skirmishes in recent years.

The two sides clashed repeatedly over the border around the Kyrgyz town of Batken in 2021 and 2022, culminating in a six-day conflict in September 2022.

The presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Sadyr Japarov and Emomali Rahmon, respectively, signed the agreement at a meeting in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, earlier on Thursday morning, according to media reports.

Closed since 2021, two checkpoints on the nearly 1,000-km-long Tajik-Kyrgyz border have now resumed operation, and flights from Bishkek to Dushanbe and Khujand will begin on Friday.

The UN chief “congratulates the two countries on this historic achievement and commends their leadership, determination and political will to bring the decades-long negotiation process to a successful conclusion”, his Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

“The Secretary-General looks forward to sustained constructive engagement between the two countries to strengthen mutual trust, good-neighbourly relations and a peaceful future for their peoples and the region as a whole,”  Dujarric said.

Previous flare ups at the border had reportedly displaced thousands of people.