RUSSIA EYES AN OVERLAND RAIL LINK TO INDIA

By Ray Carmen

Russia has proposed exploring an ambitious railway corridor connecting it with India through Central and South Asia.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said a possible route could pass through Turkmenistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan before reaching India.

The proposal is intended to reduce Russia’s dependence on maritime trade routes exposed to disruption around the Bosphorus and the Strait of Hormuz. An overland railway could also strengthen commercial links between Russia, Central Asia, Iran and India.

However, reports describing it as a “direct railway link” make the project sound more advanced than it is.

No final route, international agreement, construction budget or completion date has been announced. Building the corridor would require the cooperation of several governments, extensive new railway infrastructure, compatible customs systems and security guarantees across politically sensitive territory.

Russia, Iran and India already support the International North–South Transport Corridor, which combines railway, road and maritime connections. The latest proposal is more ambitious because it imagines a largely continuous overland freight route to India.

The idea is strategically significant—but it remains a proposal to explore, not a railway currently under construction.