Russia-India-Iran: North-South Corridor

Initiated by Russia, India and Iran in 2000, the North-South Corridor is intended to be a freight and cargo transit route, stretching from South Asia to Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Russia, and ending in Europe.

The proposed route has an estimated length of 5,000 kilometers, 40 percent shorter than the length of the current Eurasian transit, and is expected to cut transport costs by 30 percent. It stretches southward from St. Petersburg by the Gulf of Finland to cross the Caspian Sea from the southern Russian port of Astrakhan to northern Iran's Now Shahr port, onward to the Port of Bandar Abbas in south Iran, then across the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea to reach the port of Mumbai in India. It will also connect India's western coast ports and Iran's ports of Bandar Abbas and Chabahar on the Arabian Sea. A multi-modal transport system is envisioned integrating motorway and rail transport and ocean shipping services.

The project has, however, experienced delays due to lack of capital and political differences. As Iran is centrally located, its lukewarm response, in particular, contributed to a protracted failure to reach consensus on any specific action plan.

The project gained traction again in 2011 on the back of India's renewed push. Sixteen countries including those in Central Asia have now joined. But the prospects are dimmed by the potential conflicts between India and Pakistan.

俄印伊“北南走廊計劃”

“北南走廊計劃”最早由俄羅斯、印度、伊朗三國于2000年發起，計劃修建一條從南亞途經中亞、高加索、俄羅斯到達歐洲的貨運通道。“北南走廊”規劃全長5000多千米，預計建成后較現在的歐亞運輸路線縮短40％，其運費也將相應減少30％。該運輸走廊將北起芬蘭灣的圣彼得堡，經俄南部的里海港口阿斯特拉罕，跨里海至伊朗北部的諾烏舍赫爾港，再南下至伊朗南部港口城市阿巴斯，穿過阿曼灣，最后經阿拉伯海抵達印度港口孟買，其中包括公路、鐵路、海運等多種運輸形式。該運輸走廊計劃將印度西海岸港口和伊朗在阿拉伯海的阿巴斯港和查赫巴爾港連接起來。該計劃自提出以來就因資金遲滯、政治分歧，尤其是處在核心位置的伊朗態度日漸消極而一直進展緩慢，以至于在相當長時間里， 各方都沒有就實際運作方案達成共識。2011年，印度的積極推動使該計劃重獲生機。近年來，已經有包括中亞國家在內的16個國家參與到這個項目中。但是，印度積極推動的“北南走廊計劃”因與巴基斯坦存有潛在沖突，發展前景不被看好。