Ashgabat Agreement: Difference between revisions

The '''Ashgabat agreement''' is a [[multimodal transport]] agreement between the governments of [[Kazakhstan]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Turkmenistan]], [[Iran]], [[India]], [[Pakistan]], and [[Oman]] for creating an [[Transport corridor|international transport and transit corridor]] facilitating transportation of goods between [[Central Asia]] and the [[Persian Gulf]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/pakistan-joins-ashgabat-agreement-lapis-lazuli-corridor-4396500/ | title=Pakistan joins Ashgabat Agreement, Lapis Lazuli Corridor | date=26 November 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.dawn.com/news/1233450/land-routes-finalised-to-boost-trade-with-central-asia| title = Land routes finalised to boost trade with Central Asia - Newspaper - DAWN.COM| date = 17 January 2016}}</ref> The agreement came into force in April 2016. [[Ashgabat]] in [[Turkmenistan]] is the depository state for the agreement.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.dawn.com/news/1298791/pakistan-joins-ashgabat-agreement-lapis-lazuli-corridor| title = Pakistan joins Ashgabat Agreement, Lapis Lazuli Corridor - Pakistan - DAWN.COM| date = 26 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1245003/pm-nawaz-ghani-discuss-regional-issues-ashgabat/ | title=Pakistan to join Ashgabat Agreement, Lapis Lazuli Corridor | date=26 November 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/362727-Pakistan-announces-to-join-Ashgabat-Agreement-Lap | title=Pakistan announces to join Ashgabat Agreement, Lapis Lazuli Corridor - Pakistan - Dunya News }}</ref>

The agreement was originally signed by [[Iran]], [[Oman]], [[Qatar]], [[Turkmenistan]] and [[Uzbekistan]] on April 25, 2011. [[Qatar]] subsequently withdrew from the agreement in 2013, the same year [[Kazakhstan]] applied for membership, which was eventually approved in 2015.<ref>http://www.ayu.edu.tr/static/aae_haftalik/aae_bulten_en_14.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.egemen.kz/article/kazakhstan-joins-the-ashgabat-agreement | title=Kazakhstan joins the Ashgabat agreement }}</ref> [[Pakistan]] has also joined the Agreement from November 2016.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pakistan joins Ashgabat Agreement, Lapis Lazuli Corridor |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/pakistan-joins-ashgabat-agreement-lapis-lazuli-corridor-4396500/ |accessdate=21 December 2018 |work=The Indian Express |date=26 November 2016 |language=en-IN}}</ref><ref>{cite news| url =https://www.azernews.az/region/126504.html} {{Dead link|date=June 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> [[India]] formally joined in February 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-joins-ashgabat-agreement-5048314/|title=India joins Ashgabat agreement|date=2018-02-02|work=The Indian Express|access-date=2018-02-14|language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[Chabahar Port]] in Iran has since 2017 created a trade link from India to [[Afghanistan]], without having to cross through Pakistani territory.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://idsa.in/idsacomments/significance-of-india-joining-the-ashgabat-agreement_p-stobdan-120218 | title=Significance of India joining the Ashgabat Agreement &#124; Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/uzbekistan-seeks-to-be-indias-all-weather-ally-in-central-asia/articleshow/63472248.cms | title=Uzbekistan seeks to be India's all-weather ally in Central Asia | newspaper=The Economic Times | last1=Chaudhury | first1=Dipanjan Roy }}</ref> The agreement between the three countries was first signed in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-takes-over-chabahar-port-operations-from-iran-will-ship-supplies-to-afghanistan/story-kWKZeStt1MfQR4s5Voz4fL.html|title = India takes over operations of Iran's strategic Chabahar Port, can bypass Pak on way to Afghanistan|date = 24 December 2018}}</ref>