18.7.19
Tajikistan and Afghanistan have reached an agreement on the construction of a railway that will connect the two countries with Turkmenistan.
The Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation between Tajikistan and Afghanistan discussed this issue in early July at a meeting in Dushanbe, reports Asia-Plus with reference to the Deputy Minister of Transport of the Republic of Tatarstan Sukhrob Mirzozoda.
He noted that at present the joint Tajik-Afghan working group is working on the preparation of an agreement to be signed at the end of summer. Then begin discussions on financing the project.
The route of the future railway has already been agreed by the parties. It will run from the Jaloliddin Balkhi area to the Nizhny Pyanj and further to the Afghan Sherkhan Bandar-Kunduz-Mazori Sharif-Shibergon-Andkhoy-Okina. A memorandum on the construction of the Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Turkmenistan railway was signed in March 2013 by the presidents of the three countries. The first phase of this road - Atamyrat-Ymamnazar (Turkmenistan) - Akin (Afghanistan) - was launched in late 2016 with the participation of the presidents of the two countries.
However, the government of Turkmenistan did not endorse the protocol signed by Tajikistan and Afghanistan on the further implementation of the railway construction project. Between Tajikistan and Afghanistan there were controversial points on the choice of a route through the territory of Afghanistan. Two options were proposed. The length of the short route offered by Tajikistan was 160 kilometers. The route proposed by the Afghan side was over 500 kilometers. As a result, the parties managed to agree and sign the relevant protocol. In 2014, they sent him to sign the government of Turkmenistan. The construction of the Tajik-Afghan section also remained in question due to the situation in Afghan territory: The Asian Development Bank, which previously assumed financing for the construction of the Afghan section of this road, suspended support for this project due to the tense situation in the neighboring country. Earlier, ADB allocated $ 9 million in grant funds to develop a feasibility study for a future railway.
