Afghan rail link marks a break-out
moment By Fozil Mashrab
TASHKENT - The commissioning last month of
the 75-kilometer railway line from Hairatan on the
Uzbekistan border to Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan
is being hailed on both sides of the border. Seen
as the start of Afghanistan's first rail network,
it is creating openings for a stronger local
economy and increased regional trade.
The
railway line's chief financier, the Asian
Development Bank (ADB), is confident that this
relatively short stretch of railway will help
Afghanistan to redefine its role in the region and
in the world by unlocking its previously untapped
trade potential. That is crucial in putting the
Afghan economy on a sustainable footing as troops
from the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization prepare to
withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014.
Construction of the line was agreed by
Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and the ADB in 2008 as
part of the ADB-sponsored Central Asian Regional
Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program. This
envisages interconnecting Central Asia with South
Asia and Europe through a web of inland highways
and railway lines to boost trans-regional trade
and help landlocked Central Asian countries secure
access to open sea ports.
The ADB provided
a US$165 million grant and the Afghan government
paid $5 million into the project. Uzbekistan's
State Railways Company (USRC) was contracted to
construct the line. Work started in January 2010
and was completed by November that year, well
ahead of the scheduled deadline of mid-2011 - and
even before Uzbek and Afghan bureaucrats could
finish the necessary paperwork and reach an
agreement on the terms and conditions of
exploiting the line.
A successful first
"test drive" was carried out in the middle of last
month, although freight traffic was reported to
have used the line as early as August.
USRC's offshoot "Sogdiana Trans" will be
responsible for exploiting the
Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif railway line for the
initial three years, according to the agreement
between the two countries. During this time, USRC
will assist Afghan counterparts in creating
necessary infrastructure to maintain and service
the line, trains and locomotives so that future
Afghan railway engineers and mechanics can take
over the job smoothly.
The line will
initially be used only to transport "commercial
and non-lethal cargo". Theoretically in the not so
distant future, Afghan passengers could be allowed
to take a ride to cities such as Samarkand,
Bukhara and Khiva in Uzbekistan and travel even
further to Russia or beyond.
Before the
commissioning of the line, most of Afghanistan's
imports from Central Asia already came through
Uzbekistan, with some also coming through
Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
ADB's vice
president Juan Miranda said the line will
significantly raise the capacity to handle goods
at the Uzbek-Afghan border from the current 4,000
tonnes per month to 30,000-40,000 tonnes per
month. Afghanistan-bound cargo was often held up
at the Uzbek side of the border as all containers
arriving through the extensive Uzbek rail network
had to be transferred to trucks, which will no
longer be necessary until inside Afghanistan after
the line terminates.
The ADB is optimistic
that gradually with the development of the Afghan
economy, especially its mining and agricultural
sectors, the flow of material will be both ways.
The withdrawal plans for US and NATO troops will
certainly result in outgoing traffic for this new
line.
Before then, the line will increase
Uzbekistan's strategic importance for US and
Western countries as a base for logistical
supplies to their troops in Afghanistan through
what is known as the Northern Distribution Network
(NDN).
The US government's relations with
its erstwhile "frontline ally" Pakistan are in
deep crisis following the "friendly fire" incident
in November when a NATO air strike killed 24
Pakistani soldiers and injured many others.
The Pakistan government has retaliated by
"permanently stopping" the transit of US and NATO
logistical convoys through its territory to
Afghanistan, leaving thousands of trucks carrying
supplies stranded in Pakistan. That leaves
Uzbekistan - and the Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif
railway line - as the major life line for the US
to deliver supplies to its troops to Afghanistan.
Around 75% of all the logistical supplies
to US troops in Afghanistan is already being
transported through the NDN, of which 90% crosses
into Afghanistan from Uzbekistan, according to US
officials.
The new line fits into US
government's new strategy for integrating
Afghanistan with other countries in the region so
that the Afghan economy will be on a more
sustainable footing in the aftermath of the
withdrawal of Western troops, which might also
result in a sharp reduction in foreign aid to the
country.
This US strategy has been
attractively packaged as a "New Silk Road",
recalling the "the Great Silk Road", an ancient
overland network of trading routes that started in
China and India and ran all the way to the Middle
East and Europe though Afghanistan and Central
Asia. This was the world's main trading artery
before Portuguese sailors discovered the sea route
to Asia in the 16th century.
Initially,
when the US government unraveled its "New Silk
Road" strategy, many regional heavyweights such as
Russia and China suspected a hidden agenda. Some
regional observers also suggested this new
strategy was meant to pry away mineral-rich
Central Asia from under Russian and Chinese
influence.
However, the recent
developments on the ground suggest that the "New
Silk Road" has been gaining increasing acceptance
not only from the landlocked Central Asian
countries eager to diversify their trade ties and
open access to open-sea ports but also from Russia
and China, which have been increasing their
exports to Afghanistan.
The withdrawal of
US and NATO troops and Afghanistan's integration
into regional economies will likely lead to
increased Russian and Chinese economic and
political influence in Afghanistan. China has
already made the single-largest foreign investment
in Afghanistan's history by securing the rights to
develop the Aynak copper mine, one of the world's
largest. Chinese companies plan to build their own
railway line to bring out Afghanistan's mineral
resources developed by Chinese mining companies.
Russia remains the largest trading partner
for Central Asian countries (with the exception of
Turkmenistan, whose largest trading partner is
next door Iran) and their largest military
partner, but China is an increasingly major source
of foreign investment and various manufacturing
technologies.
Construction of the
Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif line will increase
Afghanistan's exposure to and awareness of its
northern neighbors, which have strong secular
traditions and have by and large accepted
modernity with the prospect of building democratic
societies in their respective countries.
Afghanistan's ties with its northern
neighbors have been extremely limited in the past
several decades, with the country exposed mainly
to Pakistan, Iran and some other oil-rich Arab
countries, which saw Afghanistan with a view to
furthering their own ideological and political
agendas.
Mazar-e-Sharif is now set to be
transformed into a bustling inland trading and
transportation hub, with the creation of thousands
of jobs and opening new opportunities for various
businesses, potentially boosting Afghans' morale
and confidence in their own future.
As
trade and economic ties with northern neighbors
expand, Afghanistan's previously often crippling
dependence on Pakistan and Iran for trade will
become history. Already, Kazakhstan, Russia,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are supplying the
lion's share of Afghanistan's imports of petroleum
products, although Iran and Pakistan remain
significant sources for petroleum supplies.
At present, Afghanistan's capital, Kabul,
receives electricity from Uzbekistan 24 hours a
day while Turkmenistan and Tajikistan are
exporting electricity to light up other parts of
the country.
Uzbekistan is also gaining
from the new line. Its successful construction
showcases the country's increasing industrial and
engineering strength, developed over the 20 years
of its independence under President Islam Karimov,
and marks the coming of age of one of its national
champions - Uzbekistan State Railways Co.
The hard currency earned by USRC by
constructing and operating the
Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif line could help cover
various rail-related projects that will increase
the Uzbekistan domestic railway system's capacity
to transit international cargo to its other
neighbors.
Recent links already
commissioned by the Uzbek government include the
223 kilometer, $150 million-plus
Tashguzar-Baysun-Kumkurgan line (2008), connecting
the country's two largest southern provinces,
bordering Afghanistan, with central Uzbekistan
without having to cross the territory of adjacent
countries. Two Spanish-made fast-trains connect
the capital, Tashkent, to the ancient city and
popular tourist destination of Samarkand.
The efficient and punctual construction of
the Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif line means USRC is the
likely partner of choice for future railway
projects in Afghanistan. The ADB has already
drafted plans to extend the
Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif line to Herat, at a cost
of $500 million. A link is also proposed to run
from Mazar-e-Sharif to Kabul and onto the eastern
border town of Torkham, connecting with Pakistan
Railways.
USRC will nevertheless face
competition - ambitious plans are reportedly being
developed by an Indian mining consortium for a
line crossing the center of Afghanistan to the
Iranian coast.
Construction of the
Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif line demonstrates how
Afghanistan's neighbors in practice, and not just
in words, contribute to the normalization of life
in Afghanistan - even if, as some critics say,
Uzbekistan's approach and contributions have been
rooted in pragmatism.
Fozil
Mashrab is a pseudonym used by an independent
analyst based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
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