Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan met in Tashkent to discuss the construction of a multi-billion-dollar railway that traverses eastern Afghanistan from north to south. The route is expected to pass from Uzbekistan through Mazar-e-Sharif in northeastern Afghanistan to Kabul, Kandahar and the Pakistani city of Peshawar. From there, the line will connect to Pakistan's main broad gauge system.

Officials from the three countries are holding negotiations in the Uzbek capital to agree on a joint action plan. The first stage of this work will be a joint expedition to investigate the route and terrain conditions. The two parties will also conduct a preliminary feasibility study on the project, including a possible financing mechanism to reach an agreement.

According to reports, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and International Finance Corporation have all expressed interest in funding the project.

Any project will also depend on the progress of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar.

Uzbekistan advances the railway

Uzbekistan is promoting the development of the railway project, and Uzbekistan is seeking to establish itself as a major transit hub between Central Asia and Pakistan’s ports.

In December 2020, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Transport Mahkamov Ilkam asked Pakistani leader Imran Khan to discuss the project during his official visit to Islamabad. Subsequently, later this month, the three parties held intergovernmental negotiations and jointly asked international financial institutions to discuss funding issues. A recent paper by the Uzbek Indian Embassy stated that this railway creates a unique prospect for the development and stabilization of the Afghan economy, and forms inter-regional and intercontinental transport flows.

The construction of the proposed railway is also expected to reduce transportation time and costs between South Asia and Europe. Delivery time from the border between Russia and Kazakhstan and Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial center, will be 16-18 days, saving nearly a third.

This railway line will also provide a way to develop Afghanistan's mineral resources. There is currently almost no railway network in Afghanistan, although the Americans built a railway from Uzbekistan to Mazar-i-Sharif in November 2010.

In 2018, Uzbekistan pledged to provide part of the funding of US$500 million for the construction of a 657-kilometer railway from Mazar-e-Sharif to Herat near the Iranian border. This was also decided after an international conference in Tashkent. In 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was US$1 trillion, including so much lithium that an internal Pentagon memo called Afghanistan the “Saudi Arabia” of this metal. Editor/Xu Shengpeng