Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan Expedite Work on Joint Railway Project
Syed Fazl-e-Haider
Executive Summary
Recent meetings between officials from Tashkent, Kabul, and Islamabad have given fresh impetus to the Uzbekistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan (UAP) railway project, with Pakistan leading the way in coordinating final steps before construction.
The railway will provide a direct connection from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean and South Asia while enhancing the three countries’ positions in both north-south and east-west trade.
The lack of a standardized rail gauge for transnational connections, combined with ongoing security concerns, could further delay the project. Islamabad and Kabul, however, have made significant progress in reconciling their border security issues.
On June 3, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Railways, Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, and Uzbekistan’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Ali Shir Takhtae, reiterated their resolve to complete the Uzbekistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan (UAP) railway project during a meeting in Islamabad (Radio Pakistan, June 3). They also devised a joint strategy for beginning the railway’s construction in the near future. Abbasi declared, “Upon completion of this project, Pakistan will gain the shortest and most efficient route to Central Asia, which will not only increase trade volumes but also place the region’s economy on a more solid footing” (Dunya News, June 3).
Earlier, on June 1, Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to expedite work on the UAP railway. Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi and Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar agreed to work closely to finalize the project’s framework agreement (Dawn, June 1). Muttaqi also “welcomed” Islamabad’s move to upgrade relations with Kabul to the ambassadorial level. Just a day before, Dar spoke with Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov to finalize arrangements for the railway’s official signing ceremony (The News, June 1). Pakistan’s efforts in recent months to “fast-track” the project have elevated the railway’s potential for becoming a critical node in improving access not only to north-south but also east-west trade corridors. As other regional countries are beginning to accept the need to work with the de facto Taliban government in Kabul, Islamabad is putting a premium on establishing avenues for future cooperation and devising strategies to provide effective security for future transit and infrastructure projects (see EDM, January 15, May 21, June 11, 25).
The proposed UAP railway line will connect Central Asia with the Indian Ocean ports of Gwadar and Karachi in Pakistan via Afghanistan. The 850-kilometer (528-mile) corridor is expected to become the first direct railway link between Central and South Asia, with completion anticipated by 2027 (UZdaily, July 17, 2023; Dunya News, June 3). The proposed railway line is estimated to shorten transit time by at least five days from Uzbekistan to Pakistan. It would also slash transportation costs by 40 percent (Tashkent Times, July 18, 2023). The project is estimated to cost around $4.8 billion and will link Tashkent to Peshawar via Kabul. The railway is of immense importance to the landlocked Central Asian countries as it will provide them access to Arabian Sea ports in Pakistan and the Indian Ocean. Overall, the UAP transport corridor will connect the European Union, Russia, India, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
The project has been in development for quite some time. In February 2021, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan signed a trilateral agreement in Tashkent that set a roadmap for the railway’s planning and construction. Under that deal, construction was supposed to begin in September 2021. Those plans, however, became untenable after the Taliban reclaimed power in Kabul. Nevertheless, a few months later, the de facto Taliban government voiced its intent to rejoin the project. In July 2022, expeditionary work began on the Afghanistan section to determine the most feasible and cost-effective route (Tashkent Times, July 18, 2023).
Later, in May 2023, a project office for the UAP railway line was officially opened in Tashkent to coordinate joint development efforts and expedite the project’s implementation (Tashkent Times, May 15, 2023). In July of that same year, all three countries agreed to begin the final stage of negotiations in Islamabad. By May 2024, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Transport, Ilkhom Makhkamov, visited Afghanistan with a team of engineers to begin preparations for construction. Makhkamov promised to send another technical team in the coming weeks to initiate actual construction. He also expressed that Uzbekistan was ready “to provide round-the-clock customs and border services at border checkpoints” (UZdaily, May 16, 2024).
The UAP railway is a mega project that has the potential to become a critical node for north-south and east-west trade. It also aims to improve economic and trade ties between Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Central Asian states (Arab News, June 3). The railway will provide both passenger and freight services, strengthening travel connections for tourists and migrants while positioning Central Asia as a transit hub. To this end, the new corridor will enable the transportation of millions of tons of natural resources from Central and South Asia to Russia (north-south) and Europe (east-west).
The railway’s construction, however, still faces significant logistical challenges. To begin, establishing standardized connections between Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan remains a problem. The project involves the construction of rail links connecting Uzbekistan Railways and Pakistan Railways, both of which use different rail gauges (Express Tribune, July 18, 2023). Afghanistan, too, uses a different gauge—not to mention, some of the country’s internal railways also have disparate gauges (Hasht-e Subh, March 12, 2023). While the three countries have resolved nearly every other consideration before starting construction, they have yet to agree on a standard gauge for the transnational connections.
Despite progress with Kabul, security remains a serious challenge. The proposed route will traverse several volatile regions in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where militants have been regularly targeting security personnel and infrastructure projects. Specifically, the railway will pass through Termez in Uzbekistan and Mazar-i-Sharif and Logar in Afghanistan, then enter Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan via the Kurram border crossing (Afghanistan International, June 3). Afghanistan is under attack from the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), which has been targeting Taliban officials and foreigners in the country (Afghanistan International, October 4, 2024). Similarly, other Islamist militants have been fueling unrest in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan (Dawn, January 25). One report remarked that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa experienced the “highest number of terrorist incidents” in 2024 of any other Pakistani province.
Earlier this year, rising tensions between Islamabad and Kabul presented the biggest security hurdle. Pakistani and Taliban forces were engaged in frequent exchanges of fire and skirmishes on their shared border. In March, Islamabad accused the Taliban government of harboring anti-Pakistani militant groups that have been orchestrating cross-border attacks into Pakistan. Kabul has denied the accusations (Dawn, March 23). In May, a trilateral meeting in Beijing among the foreign ministers of the People’s Republic of China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan sparked some optimism. On the sidelines of the talks, Dar and Muttaqi agreed to resolve the differences between the two countries and applauded efforts to enhance diplomatic, trade, and transit relations (The News, May 22).
Most recently, during the inaugural round of the Additional Secretary-Level Mechanism between the Foreign Ministries of Pakistan and Afghanistan in Islamabad on July 7, the two countries agreed to focus on finalizing the Framework Agreement for the UAP railway project. Kabul and Islamabad acknowledged that terrorism posed a threat to regional security and reaffirmed their commitment to bilateral engagement to address challenges to regional connectivity (Radio Pakistan, July 7).
The recent thaw in Pakistani-Taliban relations has provided a fresh stimulus to expedite work on the UAP railway project. Militants continue to engage in cross-border attacks, however, and the recent uptick in relations remains quite fragile. Nevertheless, if the recent truce between Islamabad and Kabul holds, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan will be that much closer to realizing the railway and strengthening their positions as critical transit countries for regional trade.
This article was originally published in Eurasia Daily Monitor.
Syed Fazl-e-Haider is a contributing analyst at the South Asia desk of Wikistrat. He is a freelance columnist and the author of several books, including The Economic Development of Balochistan (2004). He has contributed articles and analysis to a range of publications including Dawn, The Express Tribune, Asia Times, The National (UAE), Foreign Affairs, Daily Beast, New York Times, Gulf News, South China Morning Post, and The Independent.