The achievements and embarrassments of Zardari visit
By Shaheen Sehbai
WASHINGTON: Three major outcomes of the bilateral and trilateral summit talks between Presidents Zardari, Obama and Karzai are now becoming visible as officials of the three countries hammer out details of how much money would be poured in, how it would be spent and how it would be monitored.
…One solid suggestion made by a Pakistani official, got immense attention and generated an intense discussion in one of these meetings. It was to build a railway track from the port of Gwadar to Peshawar, passing through the mainland of Balochistan and along the western side of Pakistan, then going into Afghanistan through the dormant Peshawar-Torkham rail link and to Kabul onwards through Jalalabad.
This idea was also presented to President Zardari by an American expert, the Pakistan Embassy sources revealed. Zardari was excited about it as the project could involve billions of dollars that the US was ready to invest, it would revive Pakistan’s industry and economy, it could bring Balochistan into the mainstream by generating jobs and providing them goodies coming out of the project, it could spur construction industry by building hundreds of railway stations and other facilities needed and it could provide Pakistan an alternate route from Karachi to Peshawar.
For Afghanistan, as well it could be a booster as the rail link could enter Afghanistan at the south-eastern border with Pakistan and could be carried to any place inside Afghanistan by US dollars, lessening the dependence on transit trade through troubled Fata and Taliban-infested areas. It also fits the US goal of joint Af-Pak development, serving the US as well as Pak-Afghan interests.
Source: The News International 2009-05-10
I am intrigued by the statement, “the rail link could enter Afghanistan at the south-eastern border.” Most would imagine that this means going through Quetta and Chaman, but that need not be the case.
It would be quite possible to build a rail line from Gwadar north to the existing rail line that links Zahedan, in Iran, to Quetta. The link might occur somewhere near Dalbandin. From there, going east, the existing rails would need to be improved, probably to Nushki. From Nushki a line could be built straight north to Kandahar.
Such a line would have the advantage of avoiding areas in Pakistan that are controlled, or at least heavily influenced, by the Taliban, including Quetta and Chaman.