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

QUESTION FOR YOU GUYS

The Lapis Lazuli is a historic corridor connects

Afghanistan with which region of the world?

[A]Europe

[B]South Asia

[C]Africa

[D]West Asia