Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan on Thursday signed a trilateral agreement for developing a rail link to connect the three countries.
The proposed railway line aims to link Tashkent, Kabul and Peshawar, extending to Gwadar and Karachi ports and is expected to cost $4.8 billion.
"I congratulate the people and governments of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan on the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Joint Feasibility Study for the Naibabad–Kharlachi rail link under the UAP Railway Corridor," Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who went to Kabul to sign the agreement, posted on X.
Dar also thanked the foreign ministers of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan for their support and commitment to the timely signing of the agreement. "We remained closely engaged throughout the negotiation process to finalise the details.” He hailed the UAP Railway Corridor as a major milestone in advancing regional connectivity and economic integration that would connect Central Asian countries to Pakistani seaports through Afghanistan.
Earlier, the Foreign Office said that the UAP Railway Project aims to build a rail link to connect Uzbekistan with Pakistan via Afghanistan and facilitate access to Pakistani seaports for Central Asian States.
"By facilitating regional trade and transit, the project is expected to promote regional stability, growth and development,” it said in a statement.
The initiative was launched in 2021 to enhance regional connectivity by linking Central Asia with Pakistan's southern ports of Gwadar and Karachi through Afghanistan.
Separately, Dar also held a meeting with Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to discuss bilateral matters and exchange views on regional and international development.
“The two sides called for strengthened efforts to maintain the momentum in bilateral relations and to expand cooperation in trade, transit and security domains to the mutual benefit of both peoples,” he said on X. PTI SH ZH ZH
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