This post was originally published on South China Morning Post.
China’s belt and road: what’s holding up the trains from Pakistan to Turkey via Iran?
Recently, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan announced they would revive the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad (ITI) railway, a project launched in 2009. Despite several test runs, the railway link had not become fully operational.At the Economic Cooperation Organisation transport and communications ministers meeting held virtually last month, Turkish Transport Minister Adil Karaismailoglu announced that the project would be relaunched this year. After finalising tariff rates and a timetable, the service will…