Boucher says US working to link South Asia with Central Asia

US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher has said that Washington was making efforts to link Central and South Asia through Afghanistan.

Washington, Apr 28 : US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher has said that Washington was making efforts to link Central and South Asia through Afghanistan.

He said that the US was working with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to develop electricity lines for Afghanistan and with Tajikistan to help bring electricity to Pakistan.

Boucher pointed out that the US, Japan, China, the Asian Development Bank and others were building roads between Central and South Asia, including one that links the Kazakh city of Almaty to Karachi.

"That's new. That's different. That's good. And that's an opportunity," the Dawn quoted Boucher as saying.

He added: "Everybody (benefits) from India with a potential new source of energy and a place to export to, to Pakistan, which becomes a logical port and hub for a lot of this trade. Afghanistan, which becomes a transit point and contributor to the trade, or Central Asia which in addition to their ties to Russia, China, and Europe gets to open up another set of export routes and avenues."

Interestingly, there is no mention of Iran, an oil-rich country with borders and influence in both South and Central Asia.

ANI