Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Ismatulla Irgashev told which countries will ensure the safety of the Trans-Afghan railway project. The safety of the Termez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar will be jointly provided by Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The security of the project will be mainly provided by the Afghan side, while security experts from Uzbekistan and Pakistan will be involved.
Irgashev said that Uzbekistan was currently actively working to attract international investment for the implementation of the Trans-Afghan Railway project.
“Russia and Kazakhstan have already shown interest in this project. We really hope that China will join the project,” Irgashev said.
The railway connecting the southern Uzbek city of Termez and Mazar-i-Sharif has been operating since 2011. Through it, Uzbekistan is now delivering humanitarian supplies to needy Afghans. The railway will become part of the Trans-Afghan Highway, which will be stretched along the Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar route, which is about 537 km. Construction will cost $4.8 billion.
According to the Uzbek side, the project will significantly reduce the delivery time of goods to Central Asia, the CIS and Europe. It is expected that the transportation of goods from Pakistan to Uzbekistan will take not 35 days, but three to five, the cost of cargo delivery can be reduced by almost three times. According to forecasts, the volume of cargo transportation along this route can reach 10 million tons.
