Russia is considering the possibility of accessing the Indian Ocean via railway routes through Uzbekistan, as well as through Afghanistan and Pakistan. Under current conditions, Russia considers this route an important alternative direction.
According to information provided by Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Marat Khusnullin, Russia is studying the potential for expanding railway routes to the Indian Ocean through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. He emphasized that active work is underway in the directions with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Marat Khusnullin also noted that railway communication is developing, bypassing the Caspian Sea from the eastern side. Furthermore, the Ministry of Transport of Russia is developing a road route to the Indian Ocean jointly with Central Asian states, including Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
The Deputy Prime Minister called this route an additional transport corridor necessary given the current situation in Iran.
There is a separate project for developing the Trans-Afghan direction in Uzbekistan. In July 2025, a trilateral framework agreement was signed on the development of the technical and economic justification for the Termiz – Naibobod – Maidan Shahar – Logar – Kharlach railway between Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
The volume of cargo transportation along this route is already growing. According to data from the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan, in 2024, the volume of goods transported along the Trans-Afghan direction exceeded 5 million tons, of which more than 3 million tons were transit through Uzbekistan to Afghanistan.