THE EVOLUTION OF TAJIKISTAN’S INTERNATIONAL POSITION IN THE CONTEXT OF FOREIGN POLICY ACHIEVEMENTS: FROM MESSAGE TO MESSAGE

About two decades, the messages of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan his excellency Emomali Rahmon to Majlisi Oli have not been only the implementation of the strategic agenda for the development of Tajikistan’s domestic and foreign policy, but also an expression of the international agenda for sustainable development.

From the message of 2024. In 2024 the President of the Republic of Tajikistan his excellency Emomali Rahmon during his message to Majlisi Oli, analyzed the achievements of the country’s foreign policy and focused on eight main issues:

– connecting with world community to achieve constructive goals for sustaining peace and stability and expanding multilateral cooperation;

– active participation in global processes in order to solve the main problems of humanity, especially in promoting the issues of water, climate and glacier protection within the framework of the “Dushanbe Water Process”;

– developing and expanding relations with the Central Asian countries based on confidence and sincerity in order to promote an atmosphere of peace and stability and ensure joint development and progress in the region;

– expanding relations with the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States;

– based on the “open doors” foreign policy, strengthening multilateral relations at the bilateral level and through multilateral frameworks with the countries of Europe, America, Asia, the Middle East and countries of other continents;

– protection of the rights and freedoms, dignity and interests of Tajik citizens in abroad;

-constructive and long-term cooperation within the framework of international and regional organizations, including the United Nations, international financial organizations and development partners;

-developing multilateral cooperation with Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Collective Security Treaty Organization, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Economic Cooperation Organization.

In connection with the implementation of the goals set for 2024, we can confidently say that in 2025, independent Tajikistan under the leadership of his excellency Emomali Rahmon achieved all its foreign policy goals.

Therefore, in relation to the above 8 goals, such analyses can be evaluated:

First. In 2025, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan participated in three important international summits for solidarity with the world community and the achievement of creative goals to maintain peace and stability and expand multilateral cooperation:

1. The meeting of “SCO-plus” on “Implementing Multilateralism, Ensuring Regional Security, and Promoting Sustainable Development “, September 1, 2025 in Tianjin, China;
2. Extraordinary Meeting of the Heads of Arab States and Members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, September 15, 2025 in Doha, State of Qatar;
3. Participated in “International forum of peace and trust” on December 12, 2025 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan as a part of the “International Year of Peace and Trust, 2025” and delivered speech based on solidarity with world community in achieving creative goals for sustaining peace and stability in the world.

Specifically, in pursuing peace-loving policy the Leader of the Tajiks of the world, the president of the Republic of Tajikistan his excellency Emomali Rahmon was awarded the Leo Tolstoy “International Peace Prize”, which recognizes the invaluable contribution of the President of Tajikistan to the solution of regional and international conflicts.

At the same time, it is worth emphasizing that the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, His Excellency Emomali Rahmon, in all his speeches, called on the international community to support Tajikistan’s new initiative to adopt a UN resolution declaring the “Decade of Peacebuilding for Future Generations”.

Second. In relation to his active participation in global processes in order to solve the main problems of humanity, especially in promoting issues of water, climate and glacier protection, the President of Tajikistan, his excellency Emomali Rahmon, pays high attention to expanding the activities of the “Dushanbe Water Process”.

In connection with this on May 29-31, 2025, a high-level international conference on glacier protection was held in Dushanbe, attended by more than 2,200 representatives from 65 countries and 70 international organizations, which resulted in the adoption of the “Dushanbe Declaration” and the “Dushanbe Appeal”, which became a practical step in Tajikistan’s foreign policy.

In this context, the Leader of the nation, his excellency Emomali Rahmon, during his speech at the first «High-level international conference on glacier protection» on May 30, 2025 in Dushanbe, noted that: «the results of today’s meeting put the foundation for the formation of a «new Dushanbe Glacier protection process»».

The formation of this “new process” is the result of Tajikistan’s ongoing efforts at the international level, which resulted in the declaration of 2025 as the “International Year of Glacier Protection” and 2025-2034 as the “Decade of Cryospheric Sciences” by a United Nations resolution.

In connection with solving the main problems of humanity, in particular, promoting issues of water, climate and glacier protection, the Government of Tajikistan, in order to timely implement the goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda, focused on the structural formation of the country’s activities, and the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, his excellency Emomali Rahmon, in his Message to the Majlisi Oli dated December 16, 2026, proposed to transform the State scientific research institution, the “Glacier Research Center of the National Academy of Sciences” to the State scientific research institution “Institute for the Study of Glaciers and the Cryosphere of the National Academy of Sciences”.

Taking into account the location of more than 60 percent of the region’s glaciers in Tajikistan, this initiative, in cooperation with development partners and research institutes, makes a significant contribution to the organization of a comprehensive expedition to study Tajikistan’s glaciers and the creation of a “Regional Glaciological Laboratory” in our country.

At the same time, on December 12, 2025, at the initiative of Tajikistan, at the 7th meeting of the UN General Assembly on the Environment, a resolution ” On the Preservation of Glaciers and the Cryosphere”, particularly in mountain regions was adopted.

THIRD. In connection with the development and expansion of relations with the Central Asian states based on trust and sincerity in order to promote an atmosphere of peace and stability and ensure joint development and progress in the region in 2025, we have achieved unique results.

In connection with this, on October 9, 2025, the second Central Asia–Russia summit was held in Dushanbe with the adoption of a Joint action plan for 2025-2027 and a Statement on the results of the second summit of the heads of State of Central Asia and Russia, consisting of 29 points, also a complete solution to the border issues of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Kyrgyzistan with the signing of an Agreement on the establishment of the state border line, the signing of the Agreement of the Republic of Tajikistan with the Republic of Kyrgyzistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan on the crossing point of the state borders of the three countries and the “Khujand Declaration of Eternal Friendship” on March 31, 2025 by the heads of state, which is one of the most important events in strengthening relations between the countries of the region.

Also, in order to implement his foreign policy in practice, the Leader of the nation, Emomali Rahmon, participated and had speeches at the following forums dedicated to strengthening the position of Central Asia and its further development:

1. the second China-Central Asia Summit, June 17, 2025 in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan;
2. the second Central Asia-United States of America (C5+1) Summit, November 6, 2025 in Washington;
3. seventh Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia, November 16, 2025 in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan.

It should be particularly noted that as part of the implementation of this goal in 2025, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, his excellency Emomali Rahmon, participated and had speeches in three C5+1 formats, which were held at a high level for the first time:

1. The first summit “Central Asia and the European Union”, held on April 4, 2025 in Samarkand, also with the high-level summit “Central Asia in the Face of Global Climate Challenges: uniting for common Prosperity”;
2. The first summit “Central Asia an Italy” held on May 30, 2025 in Astana, the Republic of Kazakhstan;
3. The first summit “Central Asia + Japan” held on December 20, 2025 in Tokio, Japan;

So, in 2025, the Republic of Tajikistan took an active part in six C5+1 cooperation formats.

In this context, one of the most important achievements of Tajikistan’s foreign policy towards Central Asia is that on July 25, 2025, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a special resolution named by ” The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Creating New Opportunities for Sustainable Development in Central Asia”, submitted at the initiative of the Republic of Tajikistan.

FORTH. In connection with the expansion of relations with the member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), it should be noted that in October 2025, within the framework of the presidency of the Republic of Tajikistan, a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS was held in Dushanbe.

After the speech of all the heads of State and the report of the Secretary General of the CIS, the relevant acts were adopted. The importance of the Dushanbe summit was highly appreciated by the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, who stressed that taking decisions on the initiative of the “CIS-Plus” and granting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization observer status with the CIS is an important step in expanding the organization’s international relations.

During the summit of the Heads of State of the CIS, 19 documents were signed to strengthen multilateral cooperation.

After the signing of the acts, Mikhail Svydkoy, Co-Chairman of the Board of the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation (IMF) of the member States of the CIS, member of the Council of the CIS for Humanitarian Cooperation, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Humanitarian Cooperation, decided to award the Chairman of the Council of Heads of State to the Board of the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the member States of the CIS -Members of the CIS, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan his excellency Emomali Rahmon, announced the awarding of the medal “For Merits in the Development of Humanitarian Cooperation”.

At the same time, on December 22, an informal meeting of the heads of State of the CIS was held in St. Petersburg, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, his excellency Emomali Rahmon took part in it. During his speech, the Head of State paid great attention to a range of issues of interstate cooperation in trade, economic, social, cultural and humanitarian spheres, and the effectiveness of efforts to ensure regional security as a priority.

FIFTH. In the context of the “open doors” foreign policy in 2025, Tajikistan has paid special attention to strengthening multilateral relations at the bilateral level and in multilateral formats with countries in Europe, America, Asia, the Middle East and other continents.

In relation with practical measures in this direction, in 2025, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan held a series of useful meetings with the leaders of the European Union, made a working visit to the French and the United States of America.

It can be said that the Presiden of the Republic of Tajikistan, his excellency Emomali Rahmon had 20 foreign visits in 2025 and there are 1 state visit, 2 official visit and 17 working visit among them.

During the foreign visits, more than 100 (106) meetings and negotiations were held, including a state visit to Kyrgyzstan (12-13.03.2025), an official visit to the Russian Federation (16-17.03.2025), working visits to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, France, Azerbaijan, the People’s Republic of China, Qatar, the United States, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Japan.

At the same time, in 2025, a large number of meetings with foreign representatives inside the country were held with the participation of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan.

If we take it conditionally, during 2025, the president of the country held more than 60 meetings with foreign representatives in Tajikistan, of which 13 were with heads of foreign states, 19 with ministers, representatives and chairmen of foreign governments, and 27 with representatives of regional and international organizations.

Also in 2025, about 100 (93 acts, 56 in Tajikistan; 37 abroad) acts of cooperation were signed with the participation of the Head of State during bilateral and multilateral meetings inside and abroad.

Accordingly, 32 bilateral cooperation documents were signed with Kyrgyzstan, 23 with the Russian Federation, 8 with the People’s Republic of China, and also 19 at the multilateral level with the countries of the CIS, and others at the level of Central Asia + (9) and trilateral with Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

SIXTH. In connection with the protection of the rights and freedoms, honor and interests of Tajik citizens abroad, the Leader of the nation, Emomali Rahmon, during each foreign visits, held sincere meetings with Tajik citizens living, working and studying abroad, comprehensively discussed the situation with their stay, the main issues of the activities of Tajik citizens individually and during meetings with the leaders of foreign countries.

SEVENTH AND EIGHTH. Constructive and long-term cooperation within the framework of international and regional organizations, including the United Nations, international financial organizations and development partners, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Organization for Economic Cooperation, etc.

It is worth noting that in 2025, Tajikistan achieved unique achievements in the framework of multilateral foreign policy cooperation.

The most important event of the year is the participation and speech of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, his excellency Emomali Rahmon, in New York at the debates of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

During his speech at this session, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, called on the countries of the world to jointly and consistently make efforts in international practice to return to full compliance with international law. At the same time, strengthening equal cooperation between small and huge States was considered an important and timely step.

At the same time, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, noted the difficult situation in developing countries, especially in to landlocked countries, and considered it necessary to take serious measures to ensure financing for sustainable development and improve access to financial resources.

Within the framework of Tajikistan’s effective activities at the United Nations in 2025 that the organization adopted eight resolutions on Tajikistan’s initiatives, which attests to the prestige of Tajikistan’s place before this influential organization:

1. The inclusion of the “Ancient Huttal” cultural heritage sites in the UNESCO World Heritage List during the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee, July 12, 2025 in Paris;
2. Special Resolution of the UN General Assembly “The role of artificial intelligence in creating new opportunities for sustainable development in Central Asia“, July 25, 2025;
3. Resolution entitled “The Cylinder of Cyrus: the initial Declaration of Human Rights and Cultural Diversity“, adopted on November 6, 2025 during the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference, Samarkand, Uzbekistan;
4. Resolution “On the Preservation of Glaciers and the Cryosphere”, particularly in mountain regions, December 12, 2025, 7th Session of the United Nations;
5. Resolution of the UN General Assembly declaring 2027 the “International Year of Legal Literacy”, December 12, 2025;
6. Designation of Panjakent as “WCC-World Craft City for Panjakent Suzani Embroidery”:
7. Celebrating the 1050th anniversary of Robia Balkhi in 2026-2027;
8. UN resolution was adopted and inscribed “Culture of Sumanak cooking” on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity December 10, 2025 New Delhi.

At the same time participation and speech at the multilateral forums of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (09/15/2025. Qatar), the next meeting of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (11/27/2025). Kyrgyzstan), meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (01.09.2025. People’s Republic of China), 17th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) (04.07. 2025. Azerbaijan) are considered the most important events of 2025.

To the message of 2025. Therefore, it is worth to note that Tajikistan’s achievements, especially in foreign policy, have led to the development of the international position of our state at the international level, and the Leader of the nation, his excellency Emomali Rahmon, called 2025 another historic year for the glorious people and the independent state of Tajikistan with significant achievements and important events.

So, in 2025, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, his excellency Emomali Rahmon, during the message to the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan, along with all spheres of public life, analyzed the state and prospects of Tajikistan’s foreign policy and, in the context of a difficult situation in various regions of the world, increasing geopolitical and geo-economic competition, identified the following issues as priorities in the future:

• an active participation in global processes and solidarity with the international community in strengthening our efforts to achieve constructive goals – sustainability peace and stability and ensuring comprehensive security;
• continuation of international activities aimed at expanding political ties and multilateral cooperation with various countries of the world based on trust, respect for each other’s interests and an “open doors” policy;
• expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation with partner countries and institutions to continue active participation in various fields;

In general, as the President of Tajikistan, his excellency Emomali Rahmon, stated in his Message to the Majlisi Oli, 2026 is a historic year for us – the year of celebration of the 35th anniversary of state independence.

We confidently can say that by the sincere efforts and following the creative policy of the Leader of the nation, his excellency Emomali Rahmon, based on the declaration of 2026 as the “Year of Expansion of Development and Construction Works and of Strengthening the National Self-Awareness”, Tajikistan will achieve unique successes in both domestic and foreign policy of the country.

 

Sharifzoda Saidhomid Safar,

Candidate of Historical Sciences,

Head of the Department of Analysis and

Forecasting of Regional Security Issues

of the CSR under the President of the

Republic of Tajikistan