Afghanistan has the right to use water from the Amu Darya in accordance with agreed-upon allocations, said the Special Representative of the President of Uzbekistan for Afghanistan, Ismatulla Irgashev, Daryo.uz reports.
"Afghanistan and the Afghan people have a priority right to use water from the Amu Darya. There is no disagreement on this issue. The main question is how much water should be drawn from the river," Irgashev said.
He also noted that a joint delegation was established for the implementation of the Kosh Tepa project.
So far, two meetings have been held: one in Kabul and another in Mazar-i-Sharif. The third meeting will soon take place in Tashkent, he added, though he did not provide specific dates.
In mid-October 2023, the first stage of the Kosh Tepa canal construction in Afghanistan was completed, with work taking a year and a half. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that the canal's construction "could radically change the water regime and balance in Central Asia."
However, as noted by international natural resources and economics expert Rieks Bosch, the Kosh Tepa canal is expected to draw approximately 20% of the Amu Darya's water, which could exacerbate water shortages in some regions of Uzbekistan.
At the upcoming negotiations in Tashkent, the parties are expected to discuss water usage issues, the ecological impact of the project, and mechanisms for cooperation in regional water resource management.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
November 4, 2024