ALMATY -- The Kyrgyz and Tajik leaders held talks on the sidelines of the Central Asian water resources summit in Almaty on April 28, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev's press office told RFE/RL that Bakiev and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon discussed economic ties and cooperation.
The leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan met in Almaty to discuss ways to resolve differences over the usage of the region's water resources.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are against construction of new hydropower stations on transborder rivers, but mountainous Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- who control the major water resources in the region -- need to build the power stations to help alleviate severe energy shortages in their countries.