ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is offering overland trade routes to Russia and landlocked Central Asian states through its Arabian Sea ports, Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan said on Thursday, positioning the country as a strategic transit hub as regional supply chains shift toward alternative corridors.
Pakistan has long sought to leverage its geography to connect landlocked Central Asian economies to warm-water ports, a strategy that has gained importance in recent years as countries explore routes that bypass traditional maritime chokepoints and longer shipping lanes. Islamabad promotes its ports at Karachi and Gwadar as gateways linking South Asia, the Middle East and Eurasia.
Speaking at the 88th session of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Inland Transport Committee in Geneva, Khan said Pakistan’s growing integration into Eurasian connectivity networks marked a new phase in regional trade cooperation.
“Pakistan’s strategic integration into the Belarus, Russia, and Central Asia corridors represents the dawn of a new era in regional connectivity,” he said, adding the country was providing “high-efficiency trade routes for Russia and landlocked Central Asian Republics.”
The minister said six land corridors were now facilitating transit trade, including routes via Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as China-Kazakhstan connectivity and Trans-Afghan links connecting Central Asian states to the Arabian Sea. He added that the Quadrilateral Traffic in Transit Agreement (QTTA) route could also expand northward.
