•  astana
• Monday, May 21, 2012
• Inter Press Service

(IPS/EurasiaNet) - The United States and Kazakhstan are exploring the idea of expanding the amount of military cargo passing through Kazakhstan into and out of Afghanistan. The focal point of the discussions is the Caspian port city of Aktau.

Kazakhstani authorities want to turn Aktau into a major regional transit hub, enlarging the port, expanding the municipal airport's cargo capacity and constructing new rail routes to Turkmenistan and Iran.

They are also intent on integrating their vision for Aktau into the U.S.-backed concept of a New Silk Road, which aims to build up a regional transit network that would help stabilize Afghanistan following the pullout of U.S. and NATO troops.

Kazakhstani leaders see U.S. military cooperation, under the auspices of the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), as a means of achieving that goal, Birzhan Keneshev, the deputy governor of the Mangystau Region (which includes Aktau), said in an interview.

'This is a good opportunity for the U.S. military to send goods through our sea port (and) airport… We will get good experience in organising multi-modal transportation businesses, which we have not had until now in Kazakhstan,' Keneshev said. 'It's a good way to set up some joint ventures with the American side, with logistics companies, and get this experience. They can transfer experience, transfer technology, set up IT systems, train people.'

U.S. diplomats, when discussing the New Silk Road project, frequently cite India's prime minister, who is said to have quipped, 'I dream of a day, while retaining our respective identities, one can have breakfast in Amritsar, lunch in Lahore, and dinner in Kabul.'

Kazakhstan's ambassador in Washington, Erlan Idrissov, has adapted that phrase, imagining a day when one can have 'breakfast in Amritsar, lunch in Aktau and dinner in Dusseldorf'.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev's administration is presenting Aktau as a better alternative for NATO than a proposed transit hub at the Russian city of Ulyanovsk. 'The closest way to Europe (from Afghanistan) is through Aktau,' said Keneshev. 'It's a long way to Ulyanovsk,' and by using Aktau, the United States 'can save a lot of money'.

A Kazakhstani Foreign Ministry spokesman declined to comment directly on the negotiations concerning Aktau. But the ministry provided a statement to EurasiaNet.org: 'During 2009-2011, 15,430 containers have already been shipped through Aktau port from the United States and Europe to Afghanistan, i.e. the majority of the cargo passing through NDN.'

'Kazakhstan is ready to contribute to implementing the (New Silk Road) initiative in the form of some new projects. One of them is the Transportation and Logistics Center (TLC) in Aktau Sea Port,'' the statement continued. 'It can be an integral part of the Kazakhstan- Turkmenistan-Afghanistan route as part of the New Silk Road connecting Central and South Asia.'

Pentagon planners have been actively seeking to expand their options on the NDN, as problems with transit through Pakistan and, to a lesser degree, Uzbekistan, have caused delays and interruptions with existing transit routes.

© Inter Press Service (2012) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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