by Tahir Ali

 

ISLAMABAD, April 15 (Gwadar Pro) - Prime Minister Imran Khan and Uzbek President Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev on Wednesday reviewed progress on the Trans-Afghan Railway Line Project, which was agreed between Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan earlier this year. The project would link Central Asian transport network with Pakistani seaports. 

 

In the virtual summit, the two leaders also discussed bilateral relations, including politics, trade, economy, and connectivity. “Once completed, the initiative would transform the geo-economic dynamics of the entire region,” Imran Khan stated, and he stressed for early finalisation of the Preferential Trade Agreement and Transit Trade Agreement between the two countries.

 

Trans-Afghan Railway Line Project is an important connectivity project that would help connect different economies of the region from China to Pakistan and Afghanistan and beyond. 

 

In December 2020, a “Joint Appeal Letter” had sought US$ 4.8 billion from international financial institutions for the project. The proposed 573-km long railway line would shorten the economic track between the three countries. The railway service will run from Peshawar to Kabul and Kabul to Uzbekistan via Mazar-e-Sharif while multiple stations, artificial constructions and tunnels would facilitate cargo movement between these countries.

 

Although the project is not part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), both projects collaborate with each other to complete a chain of connectivity from the Pakistani seaports to the Central Asian countries. Main Line 1 (ML-1) is one of the major projects of CPEC. As part of the project, the rehabilitation and upgrading of the 1,872-kilometer railway line between Karachi and Peshawar is planned. 

 

“The connectivity projects of ML-1 and Trans-Afghan Railway Line would turn the region into an international business hub,” Shahid Khan Shinwari, Pak-Afghan, Central Asian Trade Convener told Gwadar Pro. He said, “Pakistan has already operationalised Gwadar seaport for Afghan Transit Trade.”

Rashakai Special Economic Zone (RSEZ) is another flagship project of CPEC. “The Trans-Afghan Railway Line can play great role in market integration of the economic zone,” according to Mr Shinwari. He added, “Freight trains would save time, as businesses grow when the return is fast”.

 

Mr Shinwari said, Afghanistan uses about 2,500 kilometers of Pakistan’s route, even before the completion of the railway line the former should also provide access for Pakistani traders to Central Asian countries. “Our goods first reach Afghanistan and are packed into shipments to be transported to Central Asian countries,” he said, adding that Pakistani traders want direct access to Central Asia via Afghanistan.