Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan to expand economies

Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been working to explore new ways to tap into new markets and expand their economies through different initiatives and connectivity as well as using their resources.

Officials of the three countries have often come together to discuss ways to improve trilateral economic ties, further strengthening trilateral cooperation.

In just another move, Ismatullah Irgashev, Uzbekistan’s Presidential Palace Representative for Afghanistan and Asif Durrani, the Special Representative of the Prime Minister of Pakistan for Afghanistan, had met and held discussions on ongoing transport and communication projects in Afghanistan/

Among other issues, the officials mainly focused on construction of the Termez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway line. The line will connect Uzbekistan with Afghanistan through Termez to Mazar-i-Sharif and from Kabul to Pakistan through Peshawar, and this would be the first connectivity between the three countries.

Regional cooperation and connectivity

Afghanistan could be considered as the heart of this initiative between both the countries, Uzbekistan and Pakistan will be connected with each other from Afghanistan. Unless in Afghanistan there would be no connection and that’s why the officials discussed the current situation in Afghanistan and agreed to work with the Taliban government to implement the project.

The representatives of the three countries signed a roadmap for construction of the Termez-Mazar-i-Sharf-Kabul-Peshawar railway in February 2021, but due to some issues, especially security and political chaos in Pakistan, the practical work on this project remained untagged.

Railway project to connect the three countries costs $5 billion  

The project has been estimated at around $5 billion and the focal point of this initiative is to establish a transport corridor capable of handling up to 20 million tons of cargo. It is also hoped that this corridor will expand the link into countries across Europe, Russia, India, and among the three partners, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and as well as to the Southeast Asian nations.

Recently, the commerce ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan and the deputy prime minister of Uzbekistan chaired a trilateral meeting with the aim of further strengthening economic ties, regional cooperation and connectivity.

Reducing trade barriers and smother cross-border trade

The discussions were centered around reducing trade barriers, simplifying customs procedures, improving smoother cross-border trade as well as giving priority to this railway line in order to be completed in immediate time.

Torkham crossing point between Afghanistan and Pakistan

The three sides also agreed to work on more trade development, transit facilities, increasing joint investments, transportation facilities, digitalization of customs systems, strengthening and expanding the banking system, food security, issuing visas, and also solving transit problems and strengthening.

The plan for $5 billion railway projects come when Afghanistan and Pakistan have always been at odds over the most crowded crossing-point between the neighbors. Two days ago, the Torkham border crossing, a crucial transit route between Afghanistan and Pakistan, reopened following a 10-day shutdown due to visa issues for drivers.

Intricate between Afghanistan and Pakistan trade routes  

Taliban spokesman for Nangarhar police command, Abdul Basir Zabali said has confirmed the reopening of the border, citing successful discussions between Taliban and Pakistani officials.

Pakistan had first closed the border due to visa requirements for the Afghan drivers, following that Islamabad also closed all commercial crossings with Afghanistan.

However, the closure inflicted heavy financial losses to the Afghan traders. The Afghanistan Chamber of commerce and Investment said that Afghanistan lost at least one hundred thousand US dollars daily in the last ten days of border closure.

Other major crossings beside Torkham such as Spin Boldak, Ghulam Khan, Angor Edeh and Dand Petan were also closed for transit.