NATO strikes transport deals through Central Asia

[JanjaWeed]

BRUSSELS – NATO has concluded agreements with Central Asian nations allowing it to evacuate vehicles and other military equipment from Afghanistan and completely bypass Pakistan, which once provided the main supply route for coalition forces.

Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday that Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan had agreed to allow the reverse transport of alliance equipment. Since NATO already has an agreement with Russia, the deal will allow it to ship tens of thousands of vehicles, containers and other items through the overland route when the evacuation picks up pace later this year.

Pakistan shut down the southern supply routes six months ago after U.S. airstrikes accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two border posts, forcing NATO to switch almost completely to the so-called Northern Distribution Network.


NATO strikes transport deals through Central Asia | Fox News

 

[Sher Malang]

I will wait for some other sources...

 

[JanjaWeed]

I will wait for some other sources...

here is another source, quoting AP..

NATO strikes transport deals through Central Asia | CTV News

 

[AbhijitSingh]

Talk about being marginalized

 

[graphican]

Good job NATO.. if military equipment had passed through Pakistan, there was likelihood of it being stolen by the terrorists again. Its better Pakistan would stay safe from such possibility.

here, read about this alternate supply route:

There are several different routes included in the Northern Distribution Network. The most commonly used route, though also one of the longest, starts at the port of Riga, Latvia on the Baltic Sea, and continues for 3,212 miles (5,169 km) by train southwards through Russia, using railroads built by Russia in the 1980s for the Soviet war in Afghanistan.[1] The supplies then pass through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan before reaching Afghanistan's northern border at Termez.[1] To get to the south of the country, the supplies must be loaded onto trucks and transported through the mountainous Hindu Kush by means of the Salang Tunnel.[8] The Salang Tunnel, which is the main connection between northern and southern Afghanistan, is 1.5 miles long and situated at an altitude of 11,100 feet. It is prone to avalanches and quite dangerous.[8]
Another, more southern route starts at Ponti, Georgia on the Black Sea and continues to Baku, Azerbaijan where the goods are transferred to barges and ferried across the Caspian Sea.[1] Supplies land in Turkmenistan and then move by rail through Uzbekistan before arriving at the Afghan border.[7] In 2010, this route carried one third of the NDN's traffic.[1]

Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_logistics_in_the_Afghan_War#Northern_Distribution_Network

It is going to cost NATO several times more than Pakistan or Iran route.. but its their call.. whatever makes America happy.

 

[lightoftruth]

NATO strikes exit deal with three Central Asian states

BRUSSELS: NATO has struck a deal with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to remove equipment through their territories as it winds down the Afghan operation, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday.

“We reached agreement on reverse transit from Afghanistan with three Central Asian partners: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan,” Rasmussen said at a news conference.

“These agreements will give us a range of new options and the robust and flexible transport network we need,” he added, without offering more detail on the accords.

The US is due to withdraw 23000 of its 130,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012. France, a Nato partner, is also due to withdraw its 4000 troops from the country.

Transit routes for the withdrawal are proving a major headache for the US-led ISAF operation in Afghanistan, with massive amounts of materiel dispatched in the decade-long war to be pulled out by the end-2014 deadline from a country ringed by high mountain passes.

The Brussels-headquartered alliance is also discussing with Russia the possibility of using Vostochny airport near Ulyanovsk, 900 kilometres (560 miles) east of Moscow, as a transit centre for non-lethal equipment from Afghanistan.

Washington meanwhile continues to press Pakistan to reopen routes blocked six months ago in retaliation for the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers killed by mistake by US strikes on a border post.

“I still hope that a solution can be found in the very near future,” Rasmussen said.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/388604/nato-strikes-exit-deal-with-three-central-asian-states/

 

[Sher Malang]

So that's one of the reason they intensified drone operations in Pakistan.

To Pakistan: 'Lalach buri bala hai' kam peso se hi guzara kar lete.

 

[RazPaK]

They will still ask Pakistan for a deal.

 

[JanjaWeed]

So that's one of the reason they intensified drone operations in Pakistan.

To Pakistan: 'Lalach buri bala hai' kam peso se hi guzara kar lete.

It's working though.. asking price has come down from 5000 dollars per truck to 2000 dollars per truck..


Pak Seeks USD 2,000 Transit Fee for Each NATO Tanker | news.outlookindia.com

 

[Safriz]

well done NATO..and good riddance for Pakistan...
Should have done this years ago.

It's working though.. asking price has come down from 5000 dollars per truck to 2000 dollars per truck..


Pak Seeks USD 2,000 Transit Fee for Each NATO Tanker | news.outlookindia.com

Excluding the extra fuel costs?

 

[mitth]

See Facts And Solution And carry on discussion......

 

[RazPaK]

It will be costlier for NATO to transport their equipment on cargo planes than Naval or cargo ships. What they need is access to a port. Do any of the countries mentioned in the article have a port? No, but we do. That's why they will still push for a deal with Pakistan.

We could care less either way.

 

[JanjaWeed]

Excluding the extra fuel costs?

wasn't that always the case?

 

[kawaraj]

I would say this is great news. Let us out of your mess, please.

 

[Safriz]

wasn't that always the case?

no i was on about the deal they made through central asia....