The State Department announced yesterday that representatives of the United States, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan–that is, the U.S. and the three countries concerned with the development of an economic-transportation corridor from the Pakistan port of Gwadar to Uzbekistan, passing through Afghanistan—agreed in principle to establish a new quadrilateral diplomatic platform focused on enhancing regional connectivity. “Recognizing the historic opportunity to open flourishing interregional trade routes, the parties intend to cooperate to expand trade, build transit links, and strengthen business-to-business ties,” it said. “The parties agreed to meet in the coming months to determine the modalities of this cooperation with mutual consensus.”