Ashgabat agreement

Ashgabat agreement
Major junctions
Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan end:	Mumbai
Iran end:	Eurasia region

The Ashgabat agreement is a Multimodal transport agreement between Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan for creating an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

In October 2016, Pakistan had formally joined the Ashgabat Agreement in addition to the Lapis Lazuli corridor, in a joint press conference with the Turkmenistan and Afghanistan President. Pakistan affirmed that "Regional connectivity, and economic integration are key pillars of Pakistan's foreign policy".

The objective of this agreement is to enhance connectivity within Eurasian region and synchronize it with other transport corridors within that region including the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

Indian government on March 23, 2016 has requested approval for acceding to the agreement. India’s intention to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement would now be conveyed to the Depository State (Turkmenistan). India would become party to the Agreement upon consent of the founding members.

For enhanced connectivity, the Ashgabat agreement will also synchronize with the International North–South Transport Corridor encompassing ship, rail including Trans-Caspian railway, and road route for moving freight between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia. The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia via ship, rail and road.

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