Uzbekistan-Pakistan-Afghanistan (UAP) Railway Project – OpEd

Corridors war has become the integral part of economic development and new alignments in international politics. States are busy in initiating new corridors for regional connectivity and boosting trade activities among them. Uzbekistan-Pakistan-Afghanistan (UAP) Railway link is a new addition to it. This would be a 760 KM route which will start from Termiz Uzbakistan and will pass via Mazar-e-Sharif Afghanistan to Kharlachi in Kurram district Pakistan. This Trans-Afghan project was signed in a tripartite agreement in July 2023. The three countries were agreed to this project in February 2021.

This corridor would connect the SCO states and Euroasia, would help in regional integration, and will provide access to the ports of Indian Ocean for the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Caucasus, the EU, and China for regional and bilateral trade which would be a win-win situation for all.

The estimated cost of the project is 4.8 billion USD. The expected completion of the project is by 2027 whereas it could carry potential cargo traffic of 21.7 million tonnes of freight a year by 2030 and 33.8 million tonnes by 2040. While, the estimation of the transit cargo is more then 80 percent. In addition, the project will reduce transit time by 5 days from Uzbekistan to Pakistan and will further diminish transport cost by 40 percent.

In Uzbekistan the Chairperson of the Senate Tanzila Narbaeva has called it as ” the event of the century”. Uzbekistan that shares border with Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan could be an epicenter of trade activities once this project is completed.

It can be part and extended to the CPEC which could help trade activities in China, Afghanistan, Pakistan. In addition, it could further bridge the missing link between the Southern and and Northern arms of the BRI. For Afghanistan, this Rail route could serve meet its food needs while at the same time, Afghanistan could export minerals, carpets, and wool crafts to the CARs.

The success of this trade route is dependent on peace in Afghanistan as this land has always been in the clinches of insecurity since the withdrawal of the USSR forces. Meanwhile, this route will go through Hindu-Kush mountain range which tops out at a colossal 3,500 meters. The construction of Railway track and powerful locomotives will a be a litmus test for Engineers. At the same time, the gauge which Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan uses is different in all three countries. How this difference would overcome will pose a huge challenge to the success of this project.