Rwandan Foreign Affairs minister, Dr Vincent Biruta and his Burundian counterpart, Albert Shingiro on Tuesday agreed on the roadmap to establish strained diplomatic relations, after almost five there has been an exchange of accusations with country accusing the other to be supportive of its opponents.Relations between  Central African neighbors Burundi and Rwanda, rarely warm, have been on  the downswing since 2015 when the President Pierre Nkurunziza launched  his bid for a third term.

A joint statement issued at the end of  the meeting between the two delegations said that the representatives  of the two parties noted the existence of historical relations between  Rwanda and Burundi and the challenges they have faced since 2015.

The  two authorities agreed on the need to maintain contacts in order to  normalize relations between the two neighboring countries, the statement  said.

It stressed that the meeting was part of the commitment by  the two countries to assess the state of historical relations between  Rwanda and Burundi as well as the challenges they have been facing since  2015.

During the meeting, The two top diplomats stressed the  need to engage in regular contacts in order to normalize relations  between the two neighboring countries which is characterised by shared  historic background and geographical proximity

At the occasion,  the Rwandan minister Dr Vincent Biruta handed over to his Burundian  counterpart a written message from the Government of the Republic of  Rwanda to the Government of the Republic of Burundi.

On his part  the Burundian Foreign minister invited his Rwandan counterpart to pay a  reciprocal visit to Burundi. The invitation was accepted on a date to be  agreed between the parties through diplomatic channels, the statement  said.

The meeting between the top diplomats of the two  neighbouring Eastern African countries comes after another consultative  meeting between their military intelligence chiefs last August to  discuss their disputes and defuse tensions.

Participants at the  previous meeting discussed the causes of cross-border incidents, as well  as how to resolve the conflict and normalise relations between them.

The  head of the Rwandan delegation, Brigadier-General Vincent Nyakarundi,  who is the head of Defence Intelligence at the Rwanda Defence Force,  said sharing intelligence was critical in addressing cross-border  security.

Colonel Everest Musaba, Burundi’s chief of military intelligence was leader of the Burundian delegation.