MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2023) The Russian government said on Tuesday that it consented to Turkmenistan joining the agreement on the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
"To accept the proposal of the Russian Ministry of Transport, aligned with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Federal executive bodies involved, on the expression of Russia's consent to Turkmenistan's accession to the Agreement on the International North-South Transport Corridor, signed in St. Petersburg on September 12, 2000," the decree, signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry is instructed to notify Iran as the agreement's depository on Russia's consent to Turkmenistan's accession to it, the decree also read.
In May, the head of the Agency of Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, Mammetkhan Chakiev, said that his country was working on joining the agreement on INSTC. He also noted the potential of Turkmenistan in transit logistics, taking into account the railroad line Kazakhstan � Turkmenistan � Iran.
The INSTC is an international multi-mode network nearly 4,500 miles (7,200 kilometers) long, connecting Russia's St. Petersburg and India's Mumbai. The corridor is an alternative to the sea route connecting Europe, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean countries via the Suez Canal. There are three routes, namely, the Trans-Caspian (using railroads and ports), Western and Eastern (land routes).
