AKIPRESS.COM - Afghan officials received 25 buses and three tractors from Uzbekistan at Hairatan Port on Wednesday, the TOLO news reported.

The buses will be used in the capital Kabul, Minister of Transportation and Civil Aviation Mohammad Hamid Tahmasi said.

“We thank the humanitarian assistance by the friendly country Uzbekistan and I hope that the friendly relations between the two countries will continue towards technical and professional cooperation,” he said.

At the same event, Special Envoy of Uzbekistan for Afghanistan Ismatilla Irgashev said Tashkent continues its efforts to strengthen Afghanistan-Uzbekistan relations.

“When Uzbekistan got its independence, we tried from the first day to help the people of the country Afghanistan,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abdul Bashir Tawhidi, deputy and acting governor of Balkh, said the aid was a sign of friendship between the two countries.

“The friendship between the two countries (Afghanistan and Uzbekistan) is not new. This friendship goes back to the time when the name of Afghanistan was Khurasan. We had friendship and love with Uzbekistan,” he said.

In December, Afghan and Uzbekistan officials signed more than 20 agreements which include economic, transit, security, electricity, agriculture, health and higher education cooperation between the two countries.