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
__________________________________________
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