Middle and Lapis Lazuli corridors Intersections and prospects

On the first day of August, the relevant agencies of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan signed an agreement to modernise infrastructure at the Afghan port of Torghundi, with an investment of $5 million. The document is presented as part of large-scale railway projects between the two countries and aims to optimise cross-border trade.

Afghanistan has two railway connection points with Turkmenistan: Ymamnazar–Aqina and Serhetabat–Torghundi. According to the August agreements, Turkmenistan will be responsible for designing and implementing the construction of modern loading and unloading facilities along the Torghundi–Herat railway line. These facilities are intended to increase the port’s throughput capacity. Once again, Torghundi was positioned as a key link in establishing Afghanistan as a land bridge for regional trade, aimed at enhancing cross-border logistics by improving the efficiency of transit between South and Central Asia.

However, this project can be viewed in a much broader context, extending beyond the bilateral framework.

In May of this year, the railway authorities of Azerbaijan and Pakistan discussed the organisation of container shipments along the Islamabad–Kabul–Ashgabat–Baku transport corridor. Simultaneously, they considered the expansion of freight traffic and the development of new logistics routes. According to Turkmen sources, Ashgabat sees its participation in this corridor as aligning with Turkmenistan’s strategy to strengthen regional economic ties.

On another front, in July of this year, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan signed a memorandum on the construction of the Torghundi–Herat railway, envisioned as part of the Trans-Afghan route. Astana confirmed its intention to invest in the project, which is expected to facilitate cargo transport toward Pakistani ports. This development recalls the trilateral agreements reached a year earlier between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan on the construction of a new railway line from Torghundi to Herat, Kandahar, and Spin Boldak.

This progression of events is hardly surprising, as back in 2017, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye signed an agreement to establish the Lapis Lazuli transport corridor—a route linking the Torghundi port with Ashgabat, then extending to the Turkmenbashi port, and from there across the Caspian Sea to Baku.

The route then continues through Georgia and Türkiye, ultimately allowing cargo to reach Europe. This corridor was tested in 2018, and the initiative received support from the United Nations. The following year, Kabul and Ashgabat agreed to extend the railway to Pakistan’s Gwadar port—an expansion that analysts hailed as the first historical opportunity to connect Central Asia’s railway network to the Indian Ocean via the shortest route.

In 2020, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan appointed transport operators for the Lapis Lazuli Corridor—an important step toward increasing the corridor’s transit capacity. A year later, the three countries signed a Roadmap to deepen cooperation not only in transport and logistics but also in other sectors, including energy and customs-border procedures.

In July 2024, Kabul reported significant progress in exporting goods to Central Asian countries. By July 2025, the development of the Lapis Lazuli Corridor was under discussion at the governmental level between Afghanistan and Azerbaijan—with Baku expressing its readiness to increase the volume of bilateral trade.

At the same time, Kabul announced the construction of a logistics hub in Herat, funded by Afghan, Kazakh, and Turkmen investments. This hub is strategically located at the intersection of trade routes connecting the corridor to South Asia. In parallel, Kabul held talks with China on establishing a trade transport route through the Wakhan Corridor, which could be used to deliver Chinese goods to Iran via Afghan territory.

During the Turkmen-Afghan negotiations held within the framework of the 17th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO ) Summit in Khankendi—and subsequently in Ashgabat—in July 2025, discussions focused on advancing the TAPI pipeline project (Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India), the development of railway infrastructure to increase freight traffic, and the TAF initiative (Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan) aimed at building power transmission lines and fibre-optic communications.

In this context, official Ashgabat clarified that the implementation of these projects would facilitate the export of regional energy resources to global markets, including South Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.

It was also emphasised that the TAPI pipeline—along with the construction of the necessary infrastructure—would create over 10,000 jobs in Afghanistan. Additionally, opportunities for cooperation in the mining sector were noted.

One of the most important geopolitical nuances highlighted by analysts is the potential “southeastern expansion” of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, through the development of the Lapis Lazuli Corridor.

In other words, the South Caucasus–Central Asia link is now being effectively complemented by the Afghan direction, clearly underscoring the growing geopolitical significance of the region.