Pakistan's location makes it a natural bridge between landlocked Central Asia and the Arabian Sea, according to The News on Sunday. Regional trade integration could add up to 1.7% to Pakistan's GDP.
Work on the multimodal Belarus–Russia–Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan corridor to Indian Ocean ports began in August 2022. Pakistan signed up in September 2024, and the route is meant to give landlocked Central Asia access to the sea.
Kazakhstan declined full membership of BRICS at the bloc's October summit in Kazan, choosing instead to watch how the group develops while diversifying its foreign-policy ties and keeping close engagement with the West, The Diplomat reports.
The Wakhan Corridor is a narrow strip of land in the Wakhan region of Badakhshan Province in eastern Afghanistan.
On 12 September 2000, at the second Euro-Asian Transport Conference in St Petersburg, Russia, India and Iran signed an intergovernmental agreement to create the International North–South Transport Corridor.
On 27 May 2024 Russia and Uzbekistan signed a contract for a six-unit small nuclear power plant in the Jizzakh region. The first reactor is due to start up within five years, with full commissioning no earlier than 2033.
China's outward foreign direct investment by country: the distribution based on fDi Markets data.
Saudi Arabia is OPEC's most important member and a top-three crude producer. Together, OPEC and OPEC+ pump some 46% of the world's oil, which gives them real power over prices.
