Leaders of Kazakhstan and Pakistan met this past week on the Trans-Afghan Railway project. Kazakhstan is favorable to participating in the project, and could provide construction materials, according to Serik Zhumangarin, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration. He met with Pakistan Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif to discuss the project. As reported on Dec. 26 by the Silk Road Briefing of Dezan Shira & Associates, Sharif expressed welcome to Kazakhstan to use Pakistani sea ports, which the project will open up for landlocked Kazakhstan.