By Zia-ur-Rehman

Three founder countries of Economic Cooperation Organization Pakistan, Iran and Turkey planned to start an economic train service between the capitals of three countries i.e Islamabad, Tehran and Istanbul. This train service was launched on Friday, 14 August 2009. Former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani inaugurated the service by driving train himself in Margalla Railway Station, Islamabad. It was a 6500 km rail line link Islamabad, Tehran and Istanbul. But it was cancelled in December 2011 due to logistical challenges.

Now, once again Pakistan has announced in March, 2021 to resume the service from Islamabad to Turkey via Iran after a gap of Nine years. Earlier, Pakistan made an official announced that Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad (ITI) Freight Train will resume operations from 4 March, 2021. It will complete the one-side trip in 12 days, with capacity to move 750 MT of goods. This is a testament of friendship between the three countries”. But unfortunately, due to some unavoidable reasons, the train service could not be restored two months after the announcement.

Because of its importance, the governments of the three countries should resume this service as soon as possible. It is very important project particularly for Pakistan because it is not limited to the trade activities of the three countries but it connects Pakistan Railway to the Central Asian Countries and with European countries through Turkey. In this way, Pakistan will have access to European markets. Each country takes steps to increase its exports and they need big markets to export their products. European markets are huge and every underdeveloped country wants to have access to them. Such these countries increase their exports due to the large markets of European countries and thus earn substantial profits.

Pakistan should have access to European markets as much as possible. This Train service is one of the best ways for Pakistan to access European markets because Turkey is part of this project and a part of Turkey is in Europe, it is possible for Pakistan to reach Europe by train via Turkey. This route is also much cheaper than the sea route and saves time using this route.

Besides this, importance of this ITI Train project is also due to the fact that this will be associated Russia, China, Central Asia, Central East and South Asia. This will promote economic, industrial and trade activities in the region. Most of these countries have their own railway systems that need to be connected on the borders with each other. Pakistan's railway system is well connected with India as well as Iran and in the near future it is possible that China and Afghanistan railways will join Pakistan railway lines. Earlier, when the project was first launched in 2009, considering its importance, India and Bangladesh requested Pakistan to include them in the train service to reach Central Asian states. So now they will want to join the project again. In this way, Pakistan will act as a bridge between South and Central Asia, which will be very beneficial for Pakistan.

The ITI train project is primarily a project of ECO countries, so all Central Asian countries, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, which are members of the ECO, will soon join the railway service. Russia, the world's largest railway system, will be connected it through Central Asia. In this way, access to Western Europe will be possible through Turkey and Eastern Europe via Russia.

China ranks second in the world in economics while USA ranks first. Economists say that if the situation remains the same, China will be number one in 2025. Russia is currently second in defense and military, and China is third. With the cooperation of these largest economies, defense and military powers, Pakistan has a huge scope to increase its exports and stabilize its economy. Therefore, as a developing country, Pakistan should not miss out on this great opportunity to develop its economy. Pakistani officials should be active in restarting the project, as Turkey and Iran are ready to work with Pakistan on the project.

Pakistan is a very important country in the region as it is located in the middle of various important regions. China is located in the north of Pakistan, most of the South Asian and SAARC countries are located in its East and Central Asian countries are located in the West. The countries in the West of Pakistan are spread over a large area and all the countries are Muslim majority countries. All these countries are located in the same region and are connected to each other like a chain. There are deep religious and cultural ties between Pakistan and the people of these countries. If all these countries adopt a common strategy and cooperate with each other economically and defensively, they can become a great power. The Pakistan-Iran-Turkey train project will be the beginning, this will deepen relations between all countries. If the plan succeeds, the region will prosper.