The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Felix Tshisekedi on Sunday visited Juba for bilateral talks with President Salva Kiir.
The two leaders held a meeting on several bilateral and multilateral issues affecting the two countries.
In his statement to journalists after he met with President Salva Kiir, DRC’s President Tshisekedi said they discussed the construction of a road linking the two countries.
“Another positive issue we discussed is the project of infrastructure, especially the construction of the road from here in South Sudan to the DRC that will go through the North-East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then down to Kisangani. From Kisangani, we have the Congo River that can lead us up to the end,” he said.
President Tshisekedi noted that there is still insecurity along the border of the two countries but pledged to address it.
“There are a lot of challenges that we have now but we are discussing the ways we can find a solution with the African teams,” he added.
For his part, President Kiir said the two countries will work together to end insecurity along their common border.
“We have talked about trade and security of our borders. I congratulated the president and expressed our full support to him and the Congolese people on their country’s recent admission to the East African Community (EAC),” President Kiir said. “We know that there are problems along our common borders but we will work hard to solve those problems. I look forward to continuing with our engagement in the areas of mutual benefits for the two countries.”
He added: “It has given us the opportunity to come together. We touched on the revitalized peace agreement, particularly on the progress we have achieved so far, as well as some challenges that call for a negotiated settlement to the conflict.”
Pope Francis is expected to visit both South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the first week of July 2022.
The two presidents have also pledged to work hard to maintain peace ahead of the pope’s visit.