Connectivity Corridors

Pakistan has made a great start on the road to geo-economy by putting the genie of geopolitics to rest. In fact, Islamabad has been provided with a new window of opportunity to establish bilateral or trilateral ties with ASEAN member countries in a variety of sectors, including economy, trade and commerce, joint ventures, science and technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), digitalization, ICT, infrastructural development, banking and finance, FDIs, education, and culture.

In Pakistan’s foreign policy, East Asia remains a faraway area. It has devolved into a pointless, ineffective, and forgotten effort. Pakistan, despite its economic liberalization, has been unable to reap the benefits of the ASEAN miracle. This tendency must be reversed in a big way. Pakistan’s East Asian diplomacy is quite deficient. The clamour for an FDA with ASEAN isn’t new, but it hasn’t materialized yet. There has been no high-level political dialogue with ASEAN in recent years. South Korea, Japan, and Australia have been mostly neglected by Islamabad.

With the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan is the recent take in the market and nothing can be more successful than regional connectivity. Afghanistan is known as the “Heart of Asia,” as it connects several regions of the continent, including Central Asia via Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, South Asia via Pakistan, and the Middle East via Iran. Afghanistan is a mineral-rich country with a lot of untapped potential. According to the United States Geological Survey, the country contains “60 million tons of copper, 2.2 million tons of iron ore, 1.4 million tons of rare earth elements such as lanthanum, cerium, and neodymium, and lodes of aluminum, gold, silver, zinc, mercury, and lithium.” The country has natural resources worth $3 trillion dollars. In order to improve its economic growth, Afghanistan needs regional connections for its mineral riches.

The Lapis Lazuli corridor, which would connect Afghanistan to Europe via Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, is one such effort in which the county is involved. The expansion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) might enable Afghanistan to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Pakistan may be able to access Central Asian energy markets through Afghanistan. In particular, Pakistan may exploit Afghanistan as a commercial and energy resource route to Europe via Central Asia.

Furthermore, energy infrastructure projects to link regions are on-going: for example, the Central Asia-South Asia (CASA-1000) Electricity Transmission project will send excess hydroelectric power from Central Asia to countries in South Asia, while the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas connectivity project will strengthen trade and operate throughout the region. The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program is a larger initiative, spearheaded by eleven nations spanning Central, South, and East Asia, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, to promote development.

However, to expand corridors and maximize regional connectivity advantages, additional road and rail infrastructures will be necessary. Afghanistan has always had links to the Central Asian Republics, since the nation has ethnic ties with its Central Asian neighbours. For millennia, Afghanistan was a Silk Road crossroads. Peace and security in Afghanistan will enhance transit connections throughout Asia, since instability in Afghanistan will affect surrounding instability, while stability in Afghanistan will influence regional stability. A land connection from Afghanistan to Central Asia would provide a more efficient and cost-effective alternative to Pakistan’s current routes through Iran or China. Pakistan would be able to gain access to new markets for its exports and agricultural products, as well as strengthen relations with Afghanistan and other countries, thanks to this connectivity. Two options, in particular, are critical to achieving Pakistan’s 2025 strategy, which aims to revitalize the transportation infrastructure and improve regional connectivity by using Afghanistan as a gateway. This may also allow Pakistan to concentrate on geo-economics rather than geopolitics.

In Afghanistan, economic connection is related to peace. The economic weight of Afghan instability would fall on Pakistan in particular and on the region as a whole. Pakistan’s policymakers and politicians are well-aware of the costs of an insecure Afghanistan. It is time for the entire region to pitch in peace agreements with the new Taliban government for the success of ASEAN and bilateral relations in the region.