Latest news with #TITR
India.com
06-07-2025
- Business
- India.com
Big move by Modi govt as India decides to work with this Muslim country to give tough competition to China, not Iran, Afghanistan, the masterplan is…
Big move by Modi govt as India decides to work with this Muslim country to give tough competition to China, not Iran, Afghanistan, the masterplan is… Trans-Caspian International Transport Route: China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is dominating the global trade infrastructure. India is now looking for another route to reduce its dependency on it. The route that can be a substitute for the BRI is Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor. Work on the TITR is progressing rapidly under Kazakhstan. What is Belt and Road Initiative? In 2013, Beijing had announced the Belt and Road Initiative with an aim to connect several continents through land and sea routes. This initiative aims to facilitate the exchange of goods, capital, technology, and people among participating countries. Why India Dislikes BRI? There are some things that India don't like about the BRI such as China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). New Delhi, irrespective of any government in power, always opposed it, stating that it violates the country's territorial sovereignty. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that India is not in the favour of CPEC. The route is against India's territorial integrity and sovereignty. However, the route on which work is going on now does not start from Beijing, but from Kazakhstan.
Economic Times
30-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
A road less Chinese? India may find a strategic path through Kazakhstan
TIL Creatives AI generated image for representation purposes. As China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues to expand its influence over global trade infrastructure, India is exploring alternative pathways that reduce reliance on Beijing-led such emerging option is the Trans-Caspian Internationalindia-kazakhstan-middle-corridor-TITR-trade-route-alternative-to-china-briTransport Route (TITR), commonly known as the Middle Corridor, with Kazakhstan playing a central role in its has long objected to key BRI components, especially the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which cut through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Indian government has consistently raised concerns over CPEC's implications for territorial sovereignty. Also Read: Kazakhstan, logistics hub of the Eurasia, rises on the world stage In 2024, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated India's position in an interview with ANI, 'On PoK, we are very consistent in our position. We want to tell you, the whole of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the union territories, they are part of India, an integral part of India. They were an integral part of India. They are an integral part of India and they will remain an integral part of India.' 'Our position on CPEC also is well known to you. We are not in favour of it. We are against it. It goes against our territorial integrity and sovereignty,' he added. But now, a quieter alternative is gaining traction, and it doesn't start in Beijing. It begins in Kazakhstan. According to The Economic Times, Kazakhstan is emerging as Eurasia's logistics pivot through the Middle Corridor. While India is not directly connected to this network, its rapid expansion presents a vital opportunity for New Delhi to reduce reliance on Chinese-dominated infrastructure and diversify its trade routes. The Middle Corridor spans over 4,250 km of rail and 500 km of seaway, connecting China, Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus, and Europe, bypassing both Russian and Chinese per Indian think tank Observer Research Foundation, the corridor was born out of geopolitical necessity following Russia's 2014 Crimea annexation, when Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia sought to hedge against dependence on unstable or adversarial 2017, the launch of the 826-km Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway cemented the route's viability, allowing transit from China to Turkey in 12 days, and to Prague in Transport Ministry reported that in 2024, traffic on TITR surged by 62%, reaching 4.5 million tonnes. Container transport grew by 170% to 56,500 TEUs, with 35,600 TEUs moved along the China-Europe leg, 27 times more than the previous year. The 2025 target is 5.2 million tonnes and 70,000 these numbers are just one part of the story. TITR's real significance lies in the infrastructure push that's coming, data The Economic Times reported, Kazakhstan is investing massively in its logistics network. In 2025 alone, it plans to modernise 13,000 km of roads and 6,100 km of railways, expand six airports, and build new maritime terminals, including a container hub in Aktau with a capacity of 240,000 TEUs. By 2029, another 11,000 km of rail lines will be upgraded, and new corridors like 'North' and 'Sedmiddle' are in the Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, speaking at the Foreign Investors' Council plenary on June 24 (as per Akorda, the official website of the Kazakh Presidency), described Kazakhstan's economic strategy as future-ready, sustainable, and globally integrated. The country reported a 6% GDP growth in the first half of 2025, driven by logistics, trade, and construction. This is the fastest in 12 an interview with Al Jazeera, Tokayev projected GDP growth of at least 5.5% for 2025, but added that this was 'not such an ambitious outcome,' as the government seeks additional growth India is not directly linked to the Middle Corridor, several geopolitical and economic factors could make TITR relevant to Indian per rating agency ICRA, India relies heavily on maritime trade via the Suez Canal, a route that has become vulnerable due to Red Sea instability and Houthi attacks.'The recent escalation of the conflict in the Red Sea has resulted in a 122% increase in freight cost in the past couple of months. As a result, the majority of global container shipping companies are deciding to avoid the Suez Canal and instead take the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope,' ICRA to the World Bank, 95% of India's foreign trade by volume and 67% by value is seaborne. The Suez route is crucial for trade with Europe, North Africa, and the Americas, regions accounting for over 35% of India's total foreign TITR offers a land-sea multimodal alternative that could ease maritime congestion, reduce freight costs, and benefit Indian exporters, particularly those targeting European markets. More importantly, TITR intersects with India's International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a 7,200-km network linking Mumbai to Europe via Iran and Russia. While TITR and INSTC are separate, they share geographic nodes in the Caspian Sea and Caucasus, especially Azerbaijan. This overlap allows for synergy: Indian goods could travel via INSTC and switch to TITR segments to access Central Asia, Turkey, and delays in INSTC, caused partly by sanctions on Iran and slow progress on the Chabahar-Zahedan railway, its relevance has only grown. According to ORF, INSTC, initially proposed in 2000, has been ratified by 13 countries and comprises road, rail, and sea Eastern Route, or KTI Corridor, runs through Iran, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, connecting Russia's Finnish border to Iran's Bandar Abbas reports that Russia and Iran are now fast-tracking key INSTC links like the Rasht-Astara railway, expected to be completed by 2027. The convergence of INSTC and TITR could thus form a formidable trans-Eurasian grid, one that reduces India's reliance on China or the Suez objections to the BRI, especially CPEC, are rooted in sovereignty concerns. More broadly, New Delhi remains wary of BRI's debt-driven model and China's centralised control over participating stands apart. It is not dominated by any one country, and is increasingly backed by Western actors, including the EU, Turkey, and 2024, Kazakhstan hosted its first working group meeting with China on TITR freight movement. As per the Kazakh Ministry of Transport, both countries agreed to increase container traffic on the China-Europe route to 600 trains annually by 2025–26, and up to 3,000 trains by China remains a partner, the corridor's multinational nature limits any single country's own connectivity vision, such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is aligned with this trend. Despite recent Middle East tensions slowing IMEC's momentum, a senior MEA official during the 2023 G20 Summit said that the project remains a priority, reported The TITR, INSTC, and IMEC develop in tandem, they could collectively serve as a resilient alternative to the BRI, multiplying India's strategic choices and reducing its vulnerability to reform-driven model further strengthens the case for deeper India-Caspian ties. According to the country's state news agency, President Tokayev has introduced a 'prosecutorial filter' to protect foreign investors and launched a National Digital Investment Platform. So far, 137 projects worth $70 billion have been facilitated, and 140 legal amendments India, closer diplomatic and economic ties with Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia can help secure energy supplies, mineral access and geopolitical balance in a region of growing global need not formally join TITR to benefit from it. What matters is that Kazakhstan's logistics vision, and the Middle Corridor it anchors, adds redundancy to the global trade architecture. The more corridors exist, the less India and others would need to depend on those dominated by strategic rivals.
Time of India
30-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
A road less Chinese? India may find a strategic path through Kazakhstan
As China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues to expand its influence over global trade infrastructure, India is exploring alternative pathways that reduce reliance on Beijing-led corridors. One such emerging option is the Trans-Caspian Internationalindia-kazakhstan-middle-corridor-TITR-trade-route-alternative-to-china-briTransport Route (TITR), commonly known as the Middle Corridor, with Kazakhstan playing a central role in its development. India has long objected to key BRI components, especially the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which cut through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Indian government has consistently raised concerns over CPEC's implications for territorial sovereignty. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trekking pants for mountain sports and adventure travel Trek Kit India Shop Now Undo Also Read: Kazakhstan, logistics hub of the Eurasia, rises on the world stage In 2024, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated India's position in an interview with ANI, 'On PoK, we are very consistent in our position. We want to tell you, the whole of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the union territories, they are part of India, an integral part of India. They were an integral part of India. They are an integral part of India and they will remain an integral part of India.' Live Events 'Our position on CPEC also is well known to you. We are not in favour of it. We are against it. It goes against our territorial integrity and sovereignty,' he added. But now, a quieter alternative is gaining traction, and it doesn't start in Beijing. It begins in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan's Middle Corridor According to The Economic Times, Kazakhstan is emerging as Eurasia's logistics pivot through the Middle Corridor. While India is not directly connected to this network, its rapid expansion presents a vital opportunity for New Delhi to reduce reliance on Chinese-dominated infrastructure and diversify its trade routes. The Middle Corridor spans over 4,250 km of rail and 500 km of seaway, connecting China, Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus, and Europe, bypassing both Russian and Chinese bottlenecks. As per Indian think tank Observer Research Foundation, the corridor was born out of geopolitical necessity following Russia's 2014 Crimea annexation, when Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia sought to hedge against dependence on unstable or adversarial routes. In 2017, the launch of the 826-km Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway cemented the route's viability, allowing transit from China to Turkey in 12 days, and to Prague in 18. Kazakhstan's Transport Ministry reported that in 2024, traffic on TITR surged by 62%, reaching 4.5 million tonnes. Container transport grew by 170% to 56,500 TEUs, with 35,600 TEUs moved along the China-Europe leg, 27 times more than the previous year. The 2025 target is 5.2 million tonnes and 70,000 TEUs. But these numbers are just one part of the story. TITR's real significance lies in the infrastructure push that's coming, data suggests. As The Economic Times reported, Kazakhstan is investing massively in its logistics network. In 2025 alone, it plans to modernise 13,000 km of roads and 6,100 km of railways, expand six airports, and build new maritime terminals, including a container hub in Aktau with a capacity of 240,000 TEUs. By 2029, another 11,000 km of rail lines will be upgraded, and new corridors like 'North' and 'Sedmiddle' are in the works. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, speaking at the Foreign Investors' Council plenary on June 24 (as per Akorda, the official website of the Kazakh Presidency), described Kazakhstan's economic strategy as future-ready, sustainable, and globally integrated. The country reported a 6% GDP growth in the first half of 2025, driven by logistics, trade, and construction. This is the fastest in 12 years. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Tokayev projected GDP growth of at least 5.5% for 2025, but added that this was 'not such an ambitious outcome,' as the government seeks additional growth engines. Why TITR matters for India Although India is not directly linked to the Middle Corridor, several geopolitical and economic factors could make TITR relevant to Indian interests. As per rating agency ICRA, India relies heavily on maritime trade via the Suez Canal, a route that has become vulnerable due to Red Sea instability and Houthi attacks. 'The recent escalation of the conflict in the Red Sea has resulted in a 122% increase in freight cost in the past couple of months. As a result, the majority of global container shipping companies are deciding to avoid the Suez Canal and instead take the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope,' ICRA noted. According to the World Bank, 95% of India's foreign trade by volume and 67% by value is seaborne. The Suez route is crucial for trade with Europe, North Africa, and the Americas, regions accounting for over 35% of India's total foreign trade. The TITR offers a land-sea multimodal alternative that could ease maritime congestion, reduce freight costs, and benefit Indian exporters, particularly those targeting European markets. More importantly, TITR intersects with India's International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a 7,200-km network linking Mumbai to Europe via Iran and Russia. While TITR and INSTC are separate, they share geographic nodes in the Caspian Sea and Caucasus, especially Azerbaijan. This overlap allows for synergy: Indian goods could travel via INSTC and switch to TITR segments to access Central Asia, Turkey, and Europe. Despite delays in INSTC, caused partly by sanctions on Iran and slow progress on the Chabahar-Zahedan railway, its relevance has only grown. According to ORF, INSTC, initially proposed in 2000, has been ratified by 13 countries and comprises road, rail, and sea links. Its Eastern Route, or KTI Corridor, runs through Iran, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, connecting Russia's Finnish border to Iran's Bandar Abbas port. reports that Russia and Iran are now fast-tracking key INSTC links like the Rasht-Astara railway, expected to be completed by 2027. The convergence of INSTC and TITR could thus form a formidable trans-Eurasian grid, one that reduces India's reliance on China or the Suez Canal. Strategic autonomy: Beyond BRI India's objections to the BRI, especially CPEC, are rooted in sovereignty concerns. More broadly, New Delhi remains wary of BRI's debt-driven model and China's centralised control over participating nations. TITR stands apart. It is not dominated by any one country, and is increasingly backed by Western actors, including the EU, Turkey, and Georgia. In 2024, Kazakhstan hosted its first working group meeting with China on TITR freight movement. As per the Kazakh Ministry of Transport, both countries agreed to increase container traffic on the China-Europe route to 600 trains annually by 2025–26, and up to 3,000 trains by 2029. While China remains a partner, the corridor's multinational nature limits any single country's dominance. India's own connectivity vision, such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is aligned with this trend. Despite recent Middle East tensions slowing IMEC's momentum, a senior MEA official during the 2023 G20 Summit said that the project remains a priority, reported The Hindu. If TITR, INSTC, and IMEC develop in tandem, they could collectively serve as a resilient alternative to the BRI, multiplying India's strategic choices and reducing its vulnerability to chokepoints. Diplomacy in the Caspian Kazakhstan's reform-driven model further strengthens the case for deeper India-Caspian ties. According to the country's state news agency, President Tokayev has introduced a 'prosecutorial filter' to protect foreign investors and launched a National Digital Investment Platform. So far, 137 projects worth $70 billion have been facilitated, and 140 legal amendments initiated. For India, closer diplomatic and economic ties with Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia can help secure energy supplies, mineral access and geopolitical balance in a region of growing global relevance. India need not formally join TITR to benefit from it. What matters is that Kazakhstan's logistics vision, and the Middle Corridor it anchors, adds redundancy to the global trade architecture. The more corridors exist, the less India and others would need to depend on those dominated by strategic rivals.
Epoch Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
New China–Europe Trade Route Takes Shape Amid Shifting Regional Geopolitics
On a recent visit to Beijing, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a strategic partnership agreement with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. The deal calls for increased cooperation in a range of fields, with an emphasis on regional transport and connectivity. The leaders also signed a secondary agreement on 'international multimodal transportation' with the aim of developing trade routes—via Azerbaijan—linking China to European markets. In a joint At the heart of the connectivity scheme is the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor. Stretching some 3,000 miles through China and several Eurasian states, the multimodal trade corridor integrates rail, road, and maritime transport. Operational since 2017, the TITR provides an alternative to the Northern Corridor—a rival transit route linking China to Europe via Russia and Belarus. The Middle Corridor, by contrast, extends across China from the port of Lianyungang and through neighboring Kazakhstan to the ports of Aktau and Kuryk. It then traverses the Caspian Sea into the South Caucasus, where it continues through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, and on into Eastern Europe. Related Stories 5/11/2025 5/8/2025 Beijing regards the Middle Corridor as part of its wider Belt and Road Initiative, which is the regime's global expansion project that seeks, in part, to expand Chinese influence westward into Central Asia and the South Caucasus region. 'China is looking for ways to get its products to European markets,' Yasar Sari, an expert on Eurasian affairs and a professor of international relations at Istanbul's Ibn Haldun University, told The Epoch Times. Given current geopolitical realities, 'the easiest way to do this is via the Middle Corridor,' he said. For this reason, Sari added, Beijing is investing heavily in numerous projects along the length of the corridor. 'China is even in talks with Turkey about financing a proposed railway line [crossing the Bosporus into Europe] on Istanbul's Third Bridge,' he said. Rapid development of the Middle Corridor has also prompted a budding rivalry between Beijing and Europe, both of which seek to promote their interests—and shore up their influence—in Central Asia. Geopolitical analyst Ana Maria Evans said Beijing remains a major investment partner in several development projects along the Middle Corridor. 'China has been a key partner in the development of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway, the Kazakhstan Railway, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway, and in the expansion and modernization of ports along the Caspian Sea,' Evans told The Epoch Times. Jockeying for Position Often described as a new Silk Road, the Middle Corridor will allow participant states to benefit from vast volumes of China–Europe trade, which is currently Azerbaijan, strategically positioned between Europe and Central Asia, is keen to establish itself as a key transit hub along this emerging trans-Caspian route. On the eve of his recent trip to Beijing, Aliyev A Russian floating dock is towed by tugboats through the Bosporus in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sept. 18, 2024. Yoruk Isik/Reuters According to Aliyev, more than 375,000 tons of cargo traversed the Middle Corridor between China and Azerbaijan in 2024—up 86 percent on the previous year. 'Azerbaijan's port of Baku is the key junction on the Middle Corridor—the 'main Caravanserai,' as one astute official in the Azeri capital put it,' Richard Spooner, a Central Asia expert based in Astana, Kazakhstan, told The Epoch Times. 'We see quite clearly how the Middle Corridor is good for both Europe and China, with Azerbaijan perhaps the number one beneficiary of this circumstance,' added Spooner, who sits on the advisory board of the Caspian Policy Center, a Washington-based research center devoted to issues pertaining to the Caspian region. Spooner said Baku's strategic cooperation agreement with Beijing 'will ensure that Azerbaijan's central position along the Middle Corridor continues to pay significant dividends going forward.' Kazakhstan, on the other side of the Caspian, also hopes to benefit from steadily increasing volumes of trade through the corridor. 'Transit is a huge advantage for us in the international competition for cargo transportation,' Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev 'We need to speed up the development of the Trans-Kazakhstan Railway Corridor, which will be a key component of the Trans-Caspian route of the Middle Corridor,' Tokayev added. In March, local media reported that the Kazakh government hoped to A ship passes in front of Istanbul's famous Galata Tower as it navigates the Bosporus on May 2, Middle Corridor was conceived in the first decade of the 21st century as a means of linking Central Asia and the South Caucasus to both Europe and China. In 2013, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia inked an agreement—to which China later became a signatory—establishing an official coordination committee for the developing route. The following year, the Trans-Kazakhstan railway line was completed, providing a direct rail link from China to the western shore of the Caspian Sea. In 2017, a railway line linking the capitals of Azerbaijan and Georgia to northeastern Turkey—the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) line—was completed, allowing rail passage through the Caucasus Mountains. In 2019, a freight train used the Middle Corridor—and the new BTK line—to travel from the Chinese city of Xi'An to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, in just . Circumventing Russia Since Russia invaded eastern Ukraine in 2022, Europe has looked to the Middle Corridor as a means of reducing its reliance on the Northern Corridor, which runs through Russia and Belarus, a key Russian ally. Also linking China to Europe, the Northern Corridor relies on Russia's expansive railway network, especially the Trans-Siberian railway line. 'Considering the geopolitical instability resulting from the war between Russia and Ukraine, the Middle Corridor has become increasingly significant for Europe's goals to diversify trade routes and secure supply chain resilience,' Evans, an invited associate professor at Lisbon's Catholic University, said. Western economic sanctions on Russia, in particular, have encouraged the use of alternative East-West trade routes—including the Middle Corridor. 'International sanctions have severely reduced Russia's advantage as a transit country,' Evans explained. 'By 2023, westbound trade volumes via the Northern Corridor had fallen 50 percent from the previous year.' She attributed falling trade volumes to 'the high scrutiny, compliance, and insurance costs associated with transit via territory classified as high-risk, and with sanctions imposed on Russian and Belarussian financial institutions.' Evans added that Russia's invasion and the Western sanctions that followed were the 'key factors that disrupted the Northern Corridor's standing as a critical trade route connecting China and Europe.' Over the same period, cargo volumes along the Middle Corridor have risen dramatically . According to the Middle Corridor's Astana-based coordination committee, annual The World Bank recently predicted that with the right infrastructural upgrades, trade volumes along the Middle Corridor could reach 11 million tons by 2030. The map above shows the Economic Corridors of Beijing's 'One Belt, One Road' initiative. HKTDC government website Meanwhile, the traditional maritime route through the Red Sea and Egypt's Suez Canal—the Middle Corridor's other main rival—has also been disrupted by Houthi terrorist attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. Evans said this has forced 'a significant percentage of commercial vessels to alter their routes, circumnavigating Africa instead of crossing the Suez Canal.' Because of this, Egypt's revenue from the canal fell by 60 percent as of late last year, while 'insurance, fuel, and human resource costs had increased notably due to longer transit times and increased security risks,' Evans said. Yet despite the Middle Corridor's relatively positive outlook, Russia's northern route looks set to remain the primary artery for East-West cargo transit—at least in the short term. Last year, almost 90 percent of all China-Europe-China cargo traffic relied on the northern route through Russia, while less than 10 percent used the Middle Corridor, according to the 'Transportation volumes through the Middle Corridor have grown substantially, increasing by more than 60 percent in 2024—a remarkable surge,' Evans said. She added, however, the Middle Corridor has 'not yet become a full-fledged alternative to the Northern Corridor.' 'Total trade volume and cargo capacity via the Middle Corridor remain a fraction of the Northern Corridor's,' she said. 'Furthermore, existing estimates might change if the Russia-Ukraine conflict is resolved and the sanctions are lifted.' According to Spooner, the emergence of the middle route as a viable alternative to the Northern Corridor 'will continue to gain momentum as the key players … work together to eliminate bottlenecks and enhance capacities, particularly at the ports of Aktau and Kuryk in Kazakhstan and Baku in Azerbaijan.' 'At the same time,' he added, 'the Middle Corridor's status as a viable international transportation route doesn't mean it will totally eclipse the Northern Corridor, which remains the quickest route between China and Europe, with fewer borders to cross and, therefore, fewer logistical issues.' Brussels Calling The Middle Corridor is significantly shorter in length—by about 1,250 miles—than its northern counterpart. But unlike Russia's Northern Corridor, the Middle Corridor relies on multimodal transport, causing significant delays and slowing overall transit times. Although it is longer in terms of distance, the streamlined Norther Corridor provides shippers with an approximately Further complicating operations along the Middle Corridor, the route extends through multiple countries—all of which have different legal, administrative, and customs frameworks. 'Regulatory and technological integration of the diverse transit venues and national institutions involved in the Middle Corridor remains a core challenge for attaining a full-fledged standing as a global trade venue,' Evans said. 'Heterogeneous national customs procedures, tariffs and insurance policies, border-crossing procedures, customs classifications, and documentation requirements induce significant opportunity costs.' In addition, much of the corridor's existing infrastructure is in dire need of further development in order to handle increased cargo volumes. 'Capacity limits at the ports of Aktau, Kuryk, and Baku must be addressed to handle the rise in demand for cargo traffic,' Spooner said. 'We see a shortage of ferries moving cargo from Aktau and Kuryk to Baku, plus delays and higher handling costs at the ports.' He added that the 'width of railroad tracks is different in Europe and Turkey compared to the former Soviet republics, which requires the installation of adjustable axle systems or trucks to move cargo from one train to another at certain borders.' Spooner also noted that as it currently stands, the Middle Corridor 'remains around five to seven days slower—and slightly more expensive—than pre-war routes via Russia.' According to 'Infrastructural deficits constitute significant impediments to competing effectively with other trade routes,' Evans said. 'Diverse railway gauges increase the time and cost of transshipments at border crossings, while underdeveloped port infrastructure … creates bottlenecks and congestion.' Meanwhile, China isn't the only regional power seeking to leverage the Middle Corridor for its own commercial and geopolitical ends. The EU, too, has a keen interest in the emerging trans-Caspian route, which several leading European logistics firms are already actively using. In 2022, Danish logistics and shipping giant Maersk Last year, as part of the EU's Global Gateway Initiative, Western financial institutions invested 10 billion euros (approx. $11.3 billion) to promote sustainable transport connectivity across Central Asia. According to the European Commission, the The EU launched its Global Gateway scheme in 2021 with the aim of investing in infrastructure projects worldwide. It is widely regarded as Europe's answer to China's Belt and Road initiative. 'Brussels and Beijing compete for geopolitical influence in Central Asia, and both want to take advantage of opportunities there for significant business development,' Spooner said. Last month, the first EU-Central Asia Summit was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where Brussels unveiled a further 12-billion-euro investment package, 3 billion of which (approx. $3.4 billion) is earmarked for regional transport development. 'The aim is to bring our regions closer,' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who attended the summit, said in a According to Sari, Europe—like China—seeks to expand its influence in Central Asia, and along the region's rapidly growing network of trade routes. 'Europe doesn't want China to have total control over the Middle Corridor,' he said. 'Brussels also wants to wield influence in the region, as was seen at the summit in Samarkand,' he added. Evans, citing European Council data, noted that more than 40 percent of recent investments in Central Asia originated from the EU. 'It is therefore fair to argue that Brussels is competing for influence in the region,' she said. Evans added, however, that Beijing 'has a significant head start on strategic agreements and financial cooperation in Central Asia, and, more recently, in critical Middle Corridor infrastructure.' Spooner agreed, noting that Chinese industrial conglomerate Xinfa Group had just committed $15 billion 'to build a single integrated industrial park near Pavlodar in Kazakhstan to mine for coal, bauxite, copper and limestone.' 'Central Asian countries benefit significantly from the interest that the EU and China have shown in the Middle Corridor,' he said. 'In terms of sheer economic impact, though, it is unrealistic to think that Europe can effectively compete with China economically in Central Asia.' Two days after the Azerbaijani leader's trip to Beijing, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas At an April 25 joint press conference, Kallas announced that Brussels and Baku had agreed to resume talks aimed at forging their own cooperation agreement. Describing Azerbaijan as an 'important partner,' Kallas went on to note that she and her Azerbaijani interlocutors had focused on ways to 'increase trade and improve connectivity.'
Euronews
30-04-2025
- Business
- Euronews
The race for Central Asia's transport routes: Who will dominate the new Silk Roads?
ADVERTISEMENT Central Asia and the Caucasus are racing to position themselves as vital transit hubs as global trade routes shift. Since the start of Moscow's war in Ukraine in early 2022, Europe has been searching for alternative trade routes that bypass Russia. This search has placed unprecedented attention on the strategic location of Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Countries including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Turkmenistan are investing heavily in railways, highways and ports to attract east–west trade flows. Yet, while some of their ambitions align, others compete — creating a dynamic mix of collaboration, competition and geopolitical tension. Kazakhstan Kazakhstan has been positioning itself as the Eurasian transit hub for more than a decade, which is why it is now at the top of the Central Asian transit game. Some 85% of the goods travelling from China to the EU get there through Kazakhstan. The country's position is strengthened by the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, the importance of which has increased since 2022. In 2024, the volume of goods transported along the TITR rose 20%, reaching 3.3 million tonnes. Kazakhstan also has other corridors, including the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA), which similarly bypasses Russia. Kazakhstan has a head start on some of its neighbours, who are only now starting to build railways and attract investments. Turkmenistan Due to Turkmenistan's neutrality and isolationist policies, the country rarely took part in Central Asian affairs before. However, a change in its leadership shifted the country's approach to international politics, and now it is actively trying to establish various transport corridors. Ahead of the recent EU-Central Asia Summit, many EU officials visited Turkmenistan to discuss the creation of a new branch of the Middle Corridor there. The country is also drafting an agreement with Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania to establish the Caspian-Black Sea international transport route. In addition, Turkmenistan is revitalising the Lapis Lazuli Corridor, which starts in Afghanistan and reaches Turkey — and potentially Europe — through Azerbaijan and Georgia. ADVERTISEMENT And like Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan can take advantage of a port on the east coast of the Caspian Sea (Turkmenbashi). The country now needs to fill gaps in its infrastructure and work out policies and reforms within the transit sector. Uzbekistan Like other nations in the region, Uzbekistan is diversifying its transport corridors. Uzbekistan relies on routes such as the TITR but it is actively promoting the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway, the construction of which should start in July 2025. ADVERTISEMENT This railway is supposed to be connected to the new branch of the Middle Corridor that goes through Turkmenistan, thereby creating a way for goods to travel from China without entering Kazakhstan. Additionally, to diminish its dependency on Russia and Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan is establishing its own routes to Europe through Azerbaijan and Georgia, to Turkey through Iran, and to India through Afghanistan and Pakistan. To access all that the country needs Turkmenistan, which is unlikely to keep Tashkent from doing it. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are in competition when it comes to transit routes. ADVERTISEMENT Both share borders with China and both want to create a path from China to Uzbekistan through their territory. Kyrgyzstan is already working on building the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway, which should help it circumvent Kazakhstan. As Kyrgyzstan depends heavily on trade with Russia, it depends on Kazakhstan as a transit country. Finding an alternative route through Uzbekistan and the Caspian Sea is supposed to diminish such dependency. ADVERTISEMENT Related Central Asia eager to cooperate with the EU 'as a bloc' Tajikistan, on the other hand, is trying to use its proximity to Afghanistan and establish a connection with the Persian Gulf. Last year, the country signed a memorandum for promoting ties with Iranian Chabahar port. Both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are a little behind in the race for transit routes, but their recent border agreement should free up their hands as well as enhance regional connectivity. The Caucasus In the race for transport routes, those who have ports on the Caspian Sea have the upper hand. ADVERTISEMENT In that sense, Azerbaijan holds the ultimate card, with Baku being the only port on the western coast of the Caspian Sea. The Middle Corridor, the North-South Corridor, TRACECA, the Caspian-Black Sea route, and the Lapis Lazuli Corridor – all go through Azerbaijan. Together with Georgia, Azerbaijan forms a direct line from Central Asia to Europe. Georgia's advantage here is its two major Black Sea ports of Poti and Batumi and its shared border with Turkey. However, Iran, which also shares a border with Turkey, can divert some of the trade flow. ADVERTISEMENT Georgia's position can also be weakened if Azerbaijan and Armenia find a way to reconcile. The progress is slow in this department as the peace agreement hasn't been signed yet. The nations also cannot reach an agreement on a path between Azerbaijan and its exclave Nakhchivan, separated by Armenian territory. Armenia, sandwiched between Azerbaijan and its close ally Turkey, heavily depends on Georgia for trade with Russia. Mongolia Despite Mongolia's vast territory, its unfavourable location between two even larger countries — China and Russia — greatly limits its transit capacity. ADVERTISEMENT The Steppe Corridor, which connects Mongolia's only two neighbours, is even less viable in the short term due to sanctions on Russia. The coming decade will determine the dominant routes in Eurasian trade. If political stability holds and infrastructure projects are completed, the Middle Corridor could rival Russia's traditional transport networks — placing Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia at the heart of global trade.
