Table of Contents
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!
• India has been admitted to Agreement on the Establishment of an International Transport and Transit Corridor between Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (Ashgabat Agreement)
(Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan,India)
• Ashgabat Agreement envisages facilitation of transit and transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. Accession to the Agreement would diversify india’s connectivity options with Central Asia and have a positive influence on India’s trade and commercial ties with the region.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS?
• This is an important development in India’s Look West policy intune with its Connect Central Asia policy
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What is this Ashgabat Agreement?
Ashgabat Agreement, is an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
ASHGABAT
• Ashgabat (It used to be called as Poltoratsk between 1919 and 1927) is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan in Central Asia, situated between the Karakum Desert and the
Kopet Dag mountain range
• The Karakum Canal runs through the city
• Ashgabat was recently noted by the Guinness Book of World Records as having the most white marble-clad buildings in the world — 543 new buildings lined with white marble covering a
total area of 4.5 million square meters
PURPOSE OF ASHGABAT AGREEMENT
•The Ashgabat Agreement, aims to develop a shortest trade route between Central Asian
countries and Iranian and Omani ports.
•The transit agreement provides for a transit corridor across Central Asia and the Middle East through the continuous landmass between Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran before reaching the Persian Gulf and into Oman
IMPORTANCE OF THIS AGREEMENT:
•It will enable India to utilise the existing transport and transit corridor to facilitate trade and commercial interaction with the Eurasian region.
•It would synchronise India’s efforts to implement the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) for enhanced connectivity.
THE USP OF CHABAHAR PORT AND ITS TRADE ROUTES
• Hairatan to Mazar-i-Sharif Railway line between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan
• Qazvin-rasht-astara railway between Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia
• Delaram Zaranj Highway linking Afghanistan and Iran India hands over strategic highway to Afghanistan
• Chabahar Delaram Railway link
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