Tazeen Akhtar
Pakistan and Uzbekistan will ink Trilateral Railway Project Agreement next week when a high level delegation from Uzbekistan will be here is Islamabad and will call upon Prime Minister Imran Khan. Presidents of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have already signed this accord.
Uzbekistan the only country with direct connectivity with Pakistan in shape of flights, is now moving forward to ground connections , first in Railway. Acting Ambassador , Defence Attache Lt Col R Sadullah had a meeting with Minister of Railways Pakistan Mr Azam Sawati on 24 Dec 2020 at the later’s office. Both sides discussed different aspects of Railway connectivity and its impact on the development of the whole region.
Federal Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati, same day in a media talk said that Prime Minister Imran Khan will soon sign an agreement for a trilateral railway project connecting Pakistan with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. The project was conceived in 2018, including both passenger and cargo trains going between the three countries. The project was made possible through a $4.5 billion initiative under the auspices of the World Bank.
It is worth noting that both countries reached to a consensus on increasing bilateral trade to $ 01 Billion milestone in last few months during high level interactions. Uzbekistan is operating 2 flights weekly between Tashkent and Lahore. Railway connectivity will boost trade and tourism to the highest level.
Lt Col R Sadullah, to a question shared that Uzbekistan is running train to Mazar e Shareef in Afghanistan. That railway line can be connected to Kabul and then Pakistan.
He said that both sides are working on Railway Connectivity and we are hopeful that we can accomplish this project when everything is cleared and settled accordingly.
According to our sources in the foreign ministry of Pakistan, a high level delegation from Uzbekistan is due in few days that will discuss the follow ups of the tasks agreed between both countries in bilateral dialogues and delegation interactions in previous months. The delegation will call upon Prime Minister Imran Khan and PM will witness the signing ceremony of Trilateral Railway Project.
Another development is arrival of New Ambassador designate H.E Oybek Arif Usmanov at Islamabad who will present his credentials to President of Pakistan soon.
Azam Swati, in his media talk termed the agreement on the project the “best news of 2020” for the three countries because of the opportunities it would provide for transport, trade and cargo. He said that a whole corridor to the Central Asian republics will be opened up.
Minister said that the potential connections with parts of Russia also constituted an important aspect of the rail linkages.Pakistan will do its job from Peshawar to Torkham. Afghanistan and Uzbekistan will operate the project beyond Torkham.
