Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and UAE Study CASA Rail Route to Indian Ocean

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to study a proposed railway corridor through Afghanistan to Pakistan’s seaports. The transport ministries of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure signed a memorandum on the Central Asia-South Asia (CASA) project on September 30. They agreed to study its technical and economic feasibility and examine possible financing. The memorandum leaves the route and construction timetable open and provides no cost estimate. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are both landlocked, and Uzbekistan is one of only two countries worldwide that must cross at least two national borders to reach the open sea. Kazakh authorities estimate that CASA could eventually carry up to 10 million tons of freight a year toward Karachi and Gwadar. Uzbekistan is working with Afghanistan and Pakistan on a railway from Termez through central Afghanistan to Kharlachi on the Pakistani border. The three countries agreed in July 2025 to prepare a feasibility study. Estimates put the cost at around $7 billion, although some have been higher. Kazakhstan is involved in a separate proposal from Torghundi on the Turkmen border through Herat and Kandahar to Spin Boldak near Pakistan. In April 2025, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan signed a protocol of intent, with the Torghundi-Herat railway and a logistics center in Herat envisaged as an initial stage. A new 43-kilometer section of the Khaf-Herat railway connecting Afghanistan with Iran was inaugurated on September 28. Kazakhstan’s Integra Construction KZ helped build it, and Afghan authorities say work is under way on further links from Herat toward the Turkmen and Pakistani borders. A study by the Moscow-based Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) found that Afghanistan’s Taliban-led authorities had signed more than 15 railway-related agreements by March 2026. By then, no new mainline track had entered service under those initiatives, and active projects represented less than 1% of the estimated cost of the announced plans. Dauren Ilesaliev, a professor at Tashkent State Transport University, points to the need for steady freight. “Having railway infrastructure does not guarantee that it will work,” Ilesaliev said. Countries along the route would also need to agree on a through-tariff. Kazakhstan’s trade with Afghanistan could provide some of that freight. Bilateral trade reached $581.1 million in January-July 2026, with Kazakh exports accounting for $572.9 million. Flour accounted for $215.6 million and wheat for $122 million of those exports. Kazakhstan has also explored prospective mineral deposits in Afghanistan’s Nuristan Province and is discussing exports of locally assembled vehicles. In an interview with Novastan, Uzbek analyst Aziza Mukhammedova said a corridor’s value to Afghanistan would depend on the jobs and investment it generates there, alongside transit freight. She also cited unresolved financing as a challenge. The UAE sits outside the proposed route, and the memorandum names neither an Emirati company nor a possible investment amount. If a trans-Afghan line is built, Uzbekistan’s China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway could form part of a rail route from China to Pakistan. For Kazakhstan, CASA would provide an Indian Ocean outlet alongside the...