Turkmenistan has traditionally fostered its closest security relationship with Russia. But it has found room to develop military ties with the U.S. and China. Our weekly briefing.
eurasianet.org
According to this author......no one in Ashgabat even talks about the "trans-Caspian gas pipeline". However a trans Afghanistan route is constantly discussed in Ashgabat . Taliban are committed to it (they need revenue sources) even pledging 30k troops for security. Pakistan is certainly on board due to its own energy needs plus re-export of CIS gas would generate forex for it. According to the article, Turkmenistan's national gas company Turkmengaz is currently buying “necessary pipe products of various types” from Russia’s TMK "in earnest". TMK is a leading global pipe maker has not been black listed by international sanctions.
Also, if the pipeline forks at Quetta and goes to both Karachi and Gwadar, it could be the basis for Gwadar getting steady international business. It would also make it more likely a Gwadar-Dalbaddin rail route could be built and the Quetta line extended to Turkmenistan as part of BRI (with traffic floating across the Caspian to Azerbaijan and then Europe); “The Turkish Corridor”
Down the line, the corridor along with the trans-Afghan railway from Uzbekistan to Peshawar could be linked; Kabul-Kandahar to help maximize mining.
Finally a Gwadar-Karachi rail line would make the entire Makran coast the ideal location for SEZs and forming a way to bypass Iran and Russia, and avoid international issues. We have to keep in mind Iran is a competitor to Pakistan, as well as partner of India. Pakistan could get financing from the GCC for projects that provide an alternative to countries having to use Iran.
Before the laying of rail track, we can remove the customs duties within Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) countries and start trade via combination of existing road and rail networks. US has made the road network in Afghanistan which can be utilized. Currently, 2/300 truck of tomatoes and onions are coming from Afghanistan to Pakistan duty free as the flood has damaged Pakistani crop.
I saw a program on tv in which the rail carriages were lifted by crane and put on a separate set of wheels on a track of different gauge. I think it was between China and Central Asia.
Lifting carriages and changing the wheels is a time consuming process. Better to have a change of gauge rail yard and move containers off one car and on to another, with the tracks of different gauges side by side.
If this can be done, it would be the next best thing to switching to the same track gauge.
There is a facility like this on the Kazakh-Chinese border that should be the model for such a rail yard in Peshawar.
Duties can be worked out, especially if freight volume can be increased. We have to keep in mind, these are the kind of rail links that could even see Russian goods re-exported via the central Asian countries and vis a versa, so the rails should be built for a high volume of trade and the duties worked out so the financial burden of transition from truck freight to rail freight is not overly on the Afghans; otherwise the local people won’t support it.
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