Pakistan Seeks To Link Ports To Central Asia Via China

Pakistan is working to connect its seaports with Central Asia through China under a regional transit framework that officials say could become the most efficient trade corridor in the region.

Sadiq Khan, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, said a meeting in Islamabad brought together Pakistani officials and Chinese representatives to discuss the Quadrilateral Transit Traffic Agreement between China, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

The agreement governs the movement of goods linking Pakistan’s ports with Central Asian states via Chinese territory.
Khan said reforms now under way could make the route the most efficient corridor connecting Central Asia to Pakistan’s seaports.

Pakistan’s push to expand trade ties with Central Asian countries comes as its economic exchanges with the Taliban administration in Afghanistan remain suspended. Islamabad appears to be developing alternative routes following the closure of trade with Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s prime minister said on January 20 that Islamabad had been forced to halt all trade with Afghanistan because of what he described as Kabul’s failure to act against militant groups operating from Afghan soil.