Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, April 10
By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:
Ashgabat hosted a meeting of the Joint Coordination Group on the Review of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Tajikistan railway construction project, the Turkmen government reported on April 10.
A Tajik delegation headed by First Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmudjon Sobirov was received at the Turkmen Foreign Ministry.
"During the talks, the delegations of the two countries discussed the prospects of bilateral cooperation in the field of transport in the context of implementing the memorandum of understanding on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Tajikistan railway construction project among Turkmenistan, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Republic of Tajikistan," according to a statement.
The sides also discussed the further development of the Turkmen -Tajik partnership of mutual interest.
The project has been implemented since early June 2013. It is important for strategic, political and economic interests of all participants of the project. China, Iran and Kyrgyzstan are expected to join it in the future.
Previously, the Turkmen side reported that a 400 kilometer railway must come into operation in 2015. Moreover, Turkmen railway men will lay an Afghan section of the railway.
This route will open a new corridor among Central Asia and world markets through the sea ports near the Indian Ocean. Its length is two times less than through Russia to the Baltic Sea coast.
A Turkmen section of the railway on Atamyrat - Imamnazar route will become the seventh rail connection among Turkmenistan and neighboring countries.
After the North -South line is constructed to the border with Iran this year, it will be Turkmenistan's eighth railway transit to neighboring countries (two crossing on the border with Iran, one - on the border with Kazakhstan, two - with Afghanistan and three - with Uzbekistan).
translated by NH
edited by CN