Page 61 - IRANRptOct22

Beijing backs $5bn Trans-Afghan railroad that would open up transit options for Central Asia, Iran and Russia
Russia freight train arrives in Iran, marking new trade corridor milestone
Tehran’s intention to form a long-term contractual cooperation during a meeting with visiting Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, in Tehran last week.
Qasemi described India as an “important and big country” that can play an essential role in goods transit.
Sonowal described Chabahar as a trade multiplier that can shorten transit routes and cut transit costs significantly.
The port’s growing potential as a conduit for fast trade between Central, South and even Southeast Asia was yet to be fully tapped, he added, saying Chabahar could one day be recognised as one of the most important ports in the world.
Chabahar’s importance to Russia has grown substantially amid the economic reorientation Moscow is undertaking in the face of Western sanctions brought in in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Since IPGCFZ took over Chabahar operations, the port’s Shahid Beheshti port facilities have handled more than 4.8mn tonnes of bulk cargo, official statistics show. Shipments and trans-shipments from countries, including Russia, Brazil, Thailand, Germany, Ukraine, Oman, Romania, Bangladesh, Australia, Kuwait, Uzbekistan and the UAE, have passed through Chabahar.
Chabahar is not subject to US sanctions as Washington recognised its importance to the economic development of landlocked Afghanistan.
Beijing stands ready to support the implementation of the $5bn Trans-Afghan railroad that would provide Central Asia with a cargo gateway into Pakistan, opening up cargo export options at the Arabian Sea ports of Karachi and Gwadar, according to China’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong.
The railway would run from Afghanistan’s northern hub of Mazar-i-Sharif, located near the Uzbek and Tajik borders. From there, it would run to Kabul and onwards to Peshawar in Pakistan.
“The Chinese leadership is ready to support the implementation of trans-regional projects, including the Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway line and a railroad connecting Western China with Central Asia,” Yue stated at the Afghanistan: Security and Economic Development conference held in Tashkent.
Yue added that “Beijing sees Afghanistan as a bridge linking Central and South Asia”.
Clearly, vital security concerns would have to be overcome before the Trans-Afghan railroad could go ahead. While Afghanistan’s Taliban regime has welcomed the railway project, anti-Taliban terrorist groups in the country, including Islamic State, might prove a threat to the infrastructure.
Earlier at the conference, Uzbekistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov said that his country, Afghanistan and Pakistan had begun fieldwork on the Trans-Afghan railroad project.
The three countries have signed a joint plan to build the 573-km railroad. It would boast an annual transit capacity of up to 20mn tonnes of cargo.
Some transport analysts suggest the Trans-Afghan railway could one day intersect with a proposed West-East line connecting Iran to China via Afghanistan and Pakistan.
An initial Russian freight train has arrived at Iran’s Sarakhs railway station in Khorasan-Razavi province on the border with Turkmenistan, IRNA reported on July 12.
The rail haulage development is important in the context of the accelerated development of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). A
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