Ashgabat Agreement

What is Ashgabat Agreement?

1. About Ashgabat: Capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan in Central Asia
2. Where? Situated between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag mountain range
3. About Agreement: aims to develop a shortest trade route between Central Asian countries and Iranian and Omani ports
4. Initially signed among Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Oman and Qatar back in April 2011 and was given additional support in 2014 when a MoU was signed
5. Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan (ITK) railway line will be the major route according to the Ashgabat Agreement, which became operational in 2014
6. This was also included as part of India-funded North-South international transport corridor (NSITC)

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on  Wednesday March 23,2016 has given its approval for India to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement, an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

The Ashgabat Agreement was signed in 2011 by Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, with Kazakhstan joining later



 Accession to the Agreement would enable India to utilise this existing transport and transit corridor to facilitate trade and commercial interaction with the Eurasian region. Further, this would synchronise with our efforts to implement the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) for enhanced connectivity.

Joining the corridor will facilitate India's trade with the Eurasian region, it was noted in the statement, as well as the  the creation of the International North South Transport Corridor (NSTC) between India and Russia.