Afghanistan’s Wakhan Transit Road Is a Long Shot to Connect with China — The Diplomat

The mountainous terrain of the Wakhan Corridor, the thin strip of Afghanistan that shares a border with China. On October 4, Taliban officials inaugurated the 121-kilometer-long Wakhan Transit Road connecting Afghanistan to China via the Wakhan Corridor after approximately three years of construction work. The road stretches from Afghanistan’s Broghil border area, on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, along Badakhshan province’s Wakhan district, finally reaching the border with China. According to Afghanistan’s de facto government under the Taliban, beyond China, the road will connect the country with third parties like Central Asian countries and global markets. This corridor is expected to play a significant role for Afghanistan’s trade as well as its regional transit. Its opening marks an important milestone for the Taliban since the corridor was ignored for years due to security concerns. A remote region in northeast Afghanistan, the Wakhan Corridor is 350 kilometers long and 13 to 65 km wide. The corridor, which shares borders with Pakistan (through the Durand Line, which the Taliban has started referring to as a “hypothetical” line), Tajikistan, and China, was created as a buffer zone between the Russian and British empires in 1895-96 when the Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission awarded the area to Afghanistan. Once a part of the famous Silk Road trade route, the Wakhan Corridor has been closed for regular transit for…