Islamabad (TIP): Pakistan’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq has said that he held talks on expanding a regional transit framework that bypasses Afghanistan by including Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in the Quadrilateral Transit Trade Agreement (QTTA), aiming to boost regional connectivity and trade.
Pakistan has been seeking to develop alternative logistics routes linking Central Asia to its ports via China and northern Pakistan, as strained ties with Afghanistan and periodic border disruptions continue to affect traditional transit corridors. Sadiq chaired a meeting of the Afghanistan-Central Asia Intergovernmental Coordination Cell (ACICC) to review regional coordination, he said.
“Key focus areas: Inclusion of Tajikistan & Uzbekistan in the Quadrilateral Transit Trade Agreement (QTTA) between Pakistan, China, Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan,” he wrote in a post on X.
The QTTA involves Pakistan, China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and is designed to facilitate cross-border movement of goods through routes linking Central Asia to Pakistan via China. Sadiq added that participants in the meeting also discussed enhancing air connectivity between Pakistan and Tajikistan, as well as easing visa procedures for Tajik businesspeople.
Last month, a shipment routed via China reached Karachi from Kyrgyzstan through the Khunjerab Pass and Sost Dry Port, offering Central Asian states another trade corridor option.
Pakistan has offered landlocked Central Asian states access to its Arabian Sea ports, positioning itself as a strategic transit hub amid shifting regional supply chains.
Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of killing three civilians in ‘war crime’
Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government has accused neighbouring Pakistan of killing three civilians in a cross-border attack, which Kabul has condemned as a “war crime”. The incident marked the latest test of a fragile ceasefire between the two countries, brokered by China in April, following months of cross-border fighting that left hundreds dead and injured. Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, said on X that 14 others were injured in the attack. He accused Islamabad of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, including homes, schools, a health centre, and mosques in Dangam, Kunar province, which lies along the border with Pakistan.
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