Русский
Russia’s Minister of Transport, Roman Starovoit, and the Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk have met with the Pakistani Minister of Privatisation, Communications and Affairs of the Investment Council, Abdul Alim Khan, where the parties discussed issues of transport and logistics cooperation.
During 2023, the volume of traffic between Russia and Pakistan doubled, and in the first half of this year the growth amounted to another 25%, according to the Russian Ministry of Transport. The countries are also jointly developing a new land transport corridor that will run from Belarus to Pakistani ports in the Indian Ocean.
The parties are also developing land transportation. After an agreement on road transport was signed between Russia and Pakistan in November 2022, several truckloads of goods (mainly fruits) from Pakistan have already been delivered to Russia by road. These leave Pakistan for Iran at the Taftan-Mirjaveh border crossing, continue on the main Iranian Highway 84, cross into Azerbaijan, and continue to the Russian border at the Yarag-Kazmalyar checkpoint.
This route is expected to become another branch of the International North-South Transport Corridor. This will be coordinated with the planned railway infrastructure on the eastern branch of the North-South corridor, which passes through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and onto Iran.
These infrastructure and supply chain corridors area bringing other regional projects to greater significance. To fully exploit routes east, the construction of the Trans-Afghan Railway also becomes important. This would run between Uzbekistan, through Afghanistan and connect with Pakistan’s rail network and its Indian Ocean ports. Connectivity west to Pakistan and its border with Iran would be a highly strategic connection. The agreement to build the southern route, Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan has already been signed in a US$4.8 billion deal, partially financed by China.
With the introduction of Western sanctions, Russia had to reorient itself to new markets and, as a result, to other logistics routes. Russia also needs new access to the world’s oceans, which is exactly what the Pakistani ports in the Indian Ocean will provide.
Further Reading
Russia – Pakistan Agriculture Barter Trade Kicks Off With Chickpeas for Oranges
