Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the UAE to study the CASA rail route to the Indian Ocean
The three sides signed a memorandum to study the feasibility of a railway through Afghanistan to Pakistan's seaports.
On September 30, the transport ministries of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure signed a memorandum on the CASA (Central Asia–South Asia) railway project. The document provides for studying the route's technical and economic feasibility and examining possible financing.
The route
The proposed corridor runs through Afghanistan to Pakistan's ports of Karachi and Gwadar. Two routes are being explored: for Uzbekistan, from Termez through central Afghanistan to Kharlachi on the Pakistani border; for Kazakhstan, from Torghundi through Herat and Kandahar to Spin Boldak.
The numbers
Kazakhstan estimates CASA could eventually carry up to 10 million tons of freight a year. The Termez–Kharlachi segment is valued at roughly $7 billion, with some estimates higher. The memorandum names no fixed route, construction timetable or total cost.
Why it matters
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are landlocked. Uzbekistan is one of only two countries in the world that must cross at least two national borders to reach the open sea. The corridor would give them an outlet to the Indian Ocean. At the same time, Dauren Ilesaliev, a professor at Tashkent State Transport University, noted that having railway infrastructure does not guarantee that it will work.
