The North-South transport corridor, which connects India, Iran and Russia with a network of routes, is beginning to interest a growing number of states, writes RailFreight.com. As part of the overall restructuring of logistics routes, this opens up new opportunities for some, while for others this interest is dictated by a pressing need.
In particular, we are talking about Belarus. Under the grip of Western sanctions, Minsk is looking for new ways to enter markets in the Middle East, as well as Central and South Asia. Among the countries of interest to Belarusians in terms of business cooperation are India, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Turkmenistan.
We can say that any attempt at diversification can be justified when there are sanctions. This rule is especially visible in the case of the North-South corridor, where Russia is already using part of its potential to open new markets, because we are talking about a well-developed route along which Belarus could also get what she needs.
says the RailFreight.com article.
Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are already participating or considering joining the transport initiative.
At the same time, Europe, which previously unwound the flywheel of anti-Russian sanctions, is seeking its own outlet in the Central Asian states, where it sees an important source of energy and agricultural products. However, he will not use the North-South Corridor for this, but the so-called Middle Corridor, which passes through the republics of Transcaucasia.
It should be recalled that the Middle Corridor is a long-standing concept of Western countries to create a “silk road” from China to Europe, passing through the routes of Kazakhstan, the Caspian, the Transcaucasia and more. far – the Black Sea or Turkey.
By default, it is assumed that this continental route will be completely under control, including military, by Western countries. However, this path between East and West is even further from realization than the North-South Initiative or China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
This is notably facilitated by its geographical distance from the West, military and political instability (the second Karabakh war, the change of power in Afghanistan, the recent troubles in Kazakhstan), as well as the lack of infrastructure with adequate bandwidth.
Photos used: safe quality roads
