This article appears in the December 6, 2024 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
[Print version of this article]
Cross-Eurasia Corridors Benefit the World
Nov. 24—The successful impact of east-west transport corridors across Eurasia is well established. From the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1904 to the 1991 Eurasian Railway linking Russian and Chinese systems, and later the Belt and Road corridors launched in 2013, the benefits for freight and economic activity are undeniable. Thousands of train crossings now occur annually between China, Europe, and points in between.
Complementing these east-west routes are the growing potentials of north-south corridors. The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) are connecting inland regions to the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, and beyond, unlocking new avenues for trade and development.
CPEC is the single largest development project in the entire Belt and Road Initiative, and it is well advanced towards completion. Total investment is estimated at $62 billion. It is a 3,000 km corridor extending southwest from the western Chinese city of Kashgar, through Pakistan, and reaching its port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. It will provide more than a quarter of Pakistan’s electricity, and create over 2.3 million new jobs. Its geoeconomic significance is evident from a simple view of the map (see Figure 1).
A second north-south corridor under development is the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which runs first by sea from India’s port of Mumbai on the Arabian Sea, to the Iranian port of Chabahar—just 200 km west of Pakistan’s Gwadar. From there, rail lines run northwest through Iran, along the western coast of the Caspian Sea, and then to Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia—a total of 7,200 km. A small 64 km rail link is missing in Iran, in order to complete the network, but alternate shipping across the Caspian Sea is already operational. When completed, it is estimated it will cut transit from India to Russia by 20 days, half the 40 days it now takes to ship through the Suez Canal, around the Strait of Gibraltar, and across the contested waters of the North and Baltic seas, where the Nord Stream pipelines were sabotaged. Overall shipping costs will be 30% less along the INSTC.
Full members of the INSTC are: India, Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Ukraine, and Oman. It is of note that in 2023 Russia invited Pakistan to join the INSTC, which they accepted in 2024. This will help create the circumstances for improved cooperation—as opposed to competition—between CPEC and the INSTC, and hopefully to also reduce historic tensions among India, China, and Pakistan.
At the crossroads of these Eurasian transport lines, there are now key links under construction and proposed in the five Central Asian nations and Afghanistan, whose impact can lift up their economies, to boost living standards and economic productivity. At present, Afghanistan has the world’s third highest number of refugees abroad, over 6.5 million. Uzbekistan still relies on some three million of its citizens working abroad, sending remittances back home. All this can be reversed, with collaboration on building up the nations of the region.
Together, these initiatives could reshape the economic landscape of the region.
Connectivity at the Heart of Eurasia
Several transport links under construction or in planning promise to transform the Central Asian and Afghan region. Kazakhstan already exemplifies the impact, serving as a hub for cross-Eurasian rail traffic between China and Europe.
China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan Railway
This line, stretching from western Xinjiang to Uzbekistan and beyond, has long relied on trucks to cover a missing segment in Kyrgyzstan. With construction of this crucial rail link now underway—financed jointly by China and Kyrgyzstan—the full railway route will soon be operational, a significant upgrade to regional connectivity.
Five Nations Rail Corridor (FNRC)
This long-planned corridor passes through Iran, northern Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and China. Though this route is not built out at the western end, the Khaf–Herat railway connection is in operation linking western Afghanistan and Iran. The eastern end of the FNRC is also functional, as China is reachable via the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan Railway. In May 2024, the first Afghan train shipment departed westward, going through Iran to Türkiye.
Trans-Afghan Railway
This proposed 356-mile (573 km) railway would link Uzbekistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan. The corridor would continue on to the Indian Ocean, via the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). A three-nation commitment exists, and feasibility studies are done. The open question is funding and new investment.
In November 2023 a remarkable conference in Kabul—“Operation Ibn Sina: The Coming Afghan Economic Miracle”—presented an overview of economic development across all sectors. Co-organized by the Afghan-led Ibn Sina Research and Development Center, the three-day event brought together more than 550 attendees, including government officials and experts, and a team from the Schiller Institute, to discuss economic projects and broader cooperation. The Ibn Sina Research and Development Center proposes North-South cooperation in concrete projects.