Tajik, Afghan presidents construct bridge on the border river Pyandzh

NIZHNY PYANDZH (Tajikistan), June 18 (RIA Novosti) - Presidents of Tajikistan and Afghanistan Emomali Rakhmonov and Hamid Karzai founded a bridge across the Pyandzh River on Saturday to link the two neighboring countries.

The 630-meter long bridge with a capacity of 1,000 cars per day will be completed in 18 months.

According to Afghan ambassador to Tajikistan Muhammad Pandsheri, the bridge across the Pyandzh River will be another sign of Tajik-Afghan friendship.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in Tajikistan on a routine visit earlier this day.

Karzai and his Tajik counterpart Rakhmonov are to discuss economic cooperation and security and drug trafficking problems on the Tajik-Afghan border in Dushanbe on Saturday afternoon, the Tajik president's press service said.

President Karzai's visit to Tajikistan was postponed twice on the Afghan initiative for security reasons (the Taliban movement grew active in the country) and because of the president's illness.