Afghanistan’s new road to China ends at a closed border
Summary
Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government opened a gravel road through the Wakhan Corridor to the Chinese frontier on October 4. The pass has no official border crossing or Chinese customs facility, and China has not indicated when it might open the border to commercial traffic.Key Facts
- Afghanistan’s Rural Rehabilitation and Development Ministry said the road was built in two phases for 365 million afghanis, or about $5.5 million.
- The road reaches the frontier at Wakhjir Pass, nearly 4,900 metres above sea level.
- Snow closes Wakhjir Pass for at least five months each year, and people cross it only sporadically when it is passable.
- The Wakhan Corridor extends about 350 kilometres through Badakhshan province between Tajikistan and Pakistan.
- Afghanistan and China settled their border in 1963.
- Discussions about a road through Wakhan began between Afghanistan and China in June 2009, but initial studies did not lead to construction.
- Afghanistan began building a road in Wakhan in 2019, and 60 kilometres were completed before the project was postponed after the Taliban takeover in 2021.
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