BEIJING, September 2. /TASS/. Pakistan considers it important to implement the Trans-Afghan transport corridor project, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic Shehbaz Sharif said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"[During visits of Pakistani delegations to Russia and Russian delegations to Pakistan] protocols were signed aimed at developing our cooperation in the fields of agriculture, steelmaking, railway production, and transport. In particular, the creation of a transport corridor that runs from Belarus through Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and ends in Pakistan [was discussed]. It seems to me that this corridor is extremely important," he said.
Relations between the two countries are developing "in the right direction," the premier said, adding that after his meeting with the Russian leader in Astana in July 2024, a number of mutual visits of delegations took place. In particular, Sharif mentioned Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s visit to Islamabad in October 2024. During those contacts the development of relations in various areas, including transport projects, was discussed.
Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan signed a roadmap for the construction of the Termez-Mazari-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway in Tashkent in February 2021. The project was expected to be ready in May of the same year, with interested parties to begin construction in September 2021. However, the change of power in Afghanistan slowed down the implementation of those plans, and only in July 2022 work began on the territory of Afghanistan on determining the route of the Trans-Afghan railway and the feasibility study of the project.
The construction of the highway may take at least five years. Uzbekistan expects the construction of the Trans-Afghan railway Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan to begin in 2025.
The new transport corridor is set to connect the European Union, Russia, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and the states of Southeast Asia. The length of the highway will be 573 km, with the transit potential reaching 20 mln tons of cargo per year. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk said earlier that Moscow is interested in developing railway routes through Afghanistan with access to Pakistan and India.