Uzbek President Awarded Kyrgyzstan's Order of Manas

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has been awarded the Order of Manas, First Degree, one of Kyrgyzstan's highest state honours.

The award ceremony took place during Mirziyoyev's state visit to Kyrgyzstan. President Sadyr Japarov presented the decoration to the Uzbek leader.

Accepting the award, Mirziyoyev expressed his sincere gratitude to the President of Kyrgyzstan and the brotherly Kyrgyz people. He said he regarded the honour as recognition of the joint efforts to strengthen the centuries-old friendship, good-neighbourly relations and mutual trust between the peoples of the two countries.

The Uzbek president said the award also symbolised recognition of the shared efforts to elevate relations between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to a new historic level of alliance.

The Order of Manas was established in 1996 and is one of Kyrgyzstan's highest state honours. It is awarded to Kyrgyz and foreign citizens for outstanding contributions to strengthening statehood, promoting international cooperation, and fostering peace, friendship and mutual understanding between nations.

The ceremony took place on the day of high-level talks, after which the leaders of the two countries signed a Treaty on Allied Relations and a number of bilateral agreements aimed at further developing the strategic partnership between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.