The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) has emerged as a focal phenomenon in the transport and logistics sector, with a noticeable increase in activity, Dmitry Birichevsky, Director of the Department of Economic Cooperation at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with Izvestia, Report informs.
"It’s not just a single corridor from north to south; it’s an entire network of routes. We are developing the western route in collaboration with Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as the eastern branch connected to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran.
These efforts aim to establish reliable routes for delivering goods from Russia to southern countries. Primarily, this involves reaching the southern part of Iran and from there, accessing the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, enabling trade with the rest of the world, irrespective of political decisions made by our former European partners or our adversaries in the United States.
The North-South transport corridor is our top priority in business," he stated.
The intergovernmental agreement to establish the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) was signed in 2000 by Russia, Iran, and India. Today, 12 countries, including Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Oman, are part of this agreement. The corridor spans 7,200 km, stretching from St. Petersburg in Russia to the port of Mumbai in India. The INSTC comprises three routes: Trans-Caspian route (utilizing railways and ports), and the western and eastern land routes.