ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan Thursday signed the Afghan-Trans Railway, a major regional connectivity project to link Central Asia with South Asia.
“I congratulate the people & governments of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan on the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Joint Feasibility Study for the Naibabad–Kharlachi rail link under the Uzbek–Afghan–Pak (UAP) Railway Corridor,” DMP Dar wrote on X.
He thanked the Foreign Ministers of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan for their support and commitment for timely signing of the agreement. We remained closely engaged throughout the negotiation process to finalise the details.
I congratulate the people & governments of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan on the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Joint Feasibility Study for the Naibabad–Kharlachi rail link under the Uzbek–Afghan–Pak (UAP) Railway Corridor.
I also thank the Foreign Ministers… pic.twitter.com/HdVw4jm3Nt
— Ishaq Dar (@MIshaqDar50) July 17, 2025
He said the UAP Railway Corridor, a major milestone in advancing regional connectivity and economic integration, will connect Central Asian countries to Pakistani seaports through Afghanistan.
“The signing of today’s agreement is a result of the leadership & commitment of the last PDM Government (2022–23), under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, when I was tasked as Finance Minister of PDM government to lead this effort with brotherly countries, and we collectively laid the foundation for this transformational project,” he said.
The Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (UAP) Railway Project first agreed in February 2021, envisages a 573-kilometer track linking Tashkent to Peshawar via Kabul, with an estimated cost of $4.8 billion.
Ishaq Dar was accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising the Minister for Railways, Special Representative for Afghanistan, and Ministry of Railways Secretary.
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The UAP Railway Project aims to build a rail link to connect Uzbekistan with Pakistan via Afghanistan and facilitate access to Pakistani seaports for Central Asian States. By facilitating regional trade and transit, the project is expected to promote regional stability, growth and development.
The UAP railway project has been under discussions in recent days during meetings and telephonic contacts among the countries involved.
Activities of the long-pending project got momentum after China expressed willingness to fund the project.
Ishaq Dar confirmed in May that China has expressed its intent to finance the UAP railway project, calling it a transformative step for regional connectivity. He made these revelations at a news conference in Islamabad on his return from Beijing where he attended a Pak-China-Afghan trilateral meeting at the foreign ministers level.
“We have already sent a draft framework to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan,” Dar said, adding that financing and coordination for this project has been taken up directly with China, which has responded positively.
“This project, along with the Peshawar–Kabul Highway and ML-1 upgrades, will massively boost Pakistan’s connectivity to Central Asian Republics and enhance the commercial potential of our underutilised ports,” according to Dar.
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Russian media reported in April that experts from Russia and Uzbekistan will collaborate on the design of the Trans-Afghan railway.
Uzbekistan and Russia intend to jointly design the railway, which will traverse Afghan territory as part of the Termez–Mazar-i-Sharif–Kabul–Peshawar route, according to TASS, Russia’s state news agency.