The Ashgabat Agreement was mutually signed by the governments of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Oman, Iran, and India, to establish a transit corridor and an international convey so that the movement of goods is possible between Central Asia and the Gulf of Persia.

In April 2011, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkmenistan, the Sultanate of Oman, and the Republic of Uzbekistan signed the Ashgabat Agreement to create a joint transportation and transit corridor. India was subsequently added to the Agreement on 1st February 2018, which created a network of transport routes across Central Asia to connect this region to the Persian Gulf.

Ashgabat Agreement

The Ashgabat Agreement aims to facilitate the development of the most efficient route of trade in Central Asia, which would benefit the development of trade and commerce between the countries. The Agreement helps in providing a continuous landmass route across Central Asia and the Middle East, travelling through Turkmenistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan before reaching the Gulf of Persia.

Background of Ashgabat Agreement

• In April 2011, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Oman, Iran, and Qatar signed the Ashgabat Agreement
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed in this treaty in 2014
• Kazakhstan’s entry into the Agreement has been a great boon as it allows the route to expand further into Central Asia, to the borders of China and Russia, increasing its significance in the region
• The land transport component of the Agreement includes rail links across all four Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran
• The ITK (Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan) railway line played a crucial role as it connects the north of Turkmenistan with Uzen in Kazakhstan and Gorgan in Iran to the South
• In December 2014, the ITK line became operational

Role of Ashgabat Agreement in the Transportation Development

• In 2013, a railway line was established between Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan (TAT)
• In 2014, a transportation corridor was established between Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey
• The railroad project in Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan (ITK) was established

Importance of Ashgabat Agreement

• In light of India’s need for commercial interaction with Asia and Eurasia, the proposed new trade and transit corridor will ensure that India can trade and interact more easily with the rest of Asia and Eurasia
• The Indian government launched the National Policy on Integrated Transport (NPT) in 2015 to enhance the connectivity of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC)
• India would be allowed to reroute the freight traffic on the Sea routes to the transcontinental land routes
• The construction of the multi-purpose terminal in Chabahar and India’s plan to build a 610-km north-to-south railway line from Chabahar to Zahedan could not have been realised until the Indian government joined the transport mechanism led by Central Asia

India Joins Ashgabat Agreement

By signing the Ashgabat Agreement in 2018, India actively participated in the creation of an international transport and transit corridor between the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Sultanate of Oman, the Republic of Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Ashgabat Agreement between the Central Asian countries would increase India’s connectivity with Central Asia and positively impact India’s trade and commercial ties with the different regions of the world. 

Chabahar Port Connection

With the completion of the Shahid Beheshti terminal in Iran and the Indian government’s participation in the Ashgabat Agreement, the possibility of Chabahar becoming a vital gateway and the shortest land route is real. India has benefited from the Chabahar port, as it has been able to connect to Afghanistan. 

In addition to the projects planned for the port of Chabahar in south-western Iran, other important projects have also been planned for this port. The Indian government’s plan to construct a 610-km (380 miles) railway from Chabahar to Zahedan and the development of the Chabahar multi-purpose terminal could not have been achieved without India joining the Central Asian-led transport network.

Conclusion

There is hope for a more open and friendly trade policy in Eurasia. This can be seen in the Ashgabat Agreement, which was signed in 2018 by India. This Agreement provides a clear rail and road route for trade to Eurasia. The Ashgabat Agreement was originally a treaty between the five Central Asian states – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The purpose of the Agreement is to increase trade and cooperation between the nations by providing a framework for future economic integration. The Agreement has been in place since 1995 and was most recently updated in 2010. In the past, the five nations have had a series of agreements, called the 5-Year Plans, which functioned similarly to the Ashgabat Agreement.