The Trans-Afghan Railway Project, a Hopeful Solution to Complex Regional Problems

The Trans-Afghan Railway project would connect China, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to Uzbekistan and the Central Asian markets. An article by F.M. Shakil in the West Asian news site, The Cradle, analyzes the proposed project, which received some impetus when officials from Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan convened in Islamabad on July 17 to discuss it. Land-locked Uzbekistan’s trade routes have been disrupted by the Ukraine war, and it seeks a rail connection to seaports in Pakistan. There are many potential benefits from creating this “missing link” in the Silk Road. There is also a complex array of pressures that could determine the outcome of the project. Pakistan is torn between a desire to collaborate with its neighbors, and an urge to placate the Anglosphere. Financing for the project depends upon achieving a regional consensus, since none of the interested parties is capable of providing the funds alone. Various armed groupings in Afghanistan and Pakistan pose a potential threat. It should be recalled, however, that when the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was formed, a focus of its activity was combating terrorism, not through the US-style “destroy the village in order to save it” approach, but by constructing infrastructure to end regional isolation and provide a civilizing factor.