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R E G I O N: Afghanistan set to regain ‘land bridge’ role for Asia

* Khalilzad says region artificially fragmented by 20th century politics

WASHINGTON: Afghanistan is set to reestablish its role as a “land bridge” linking much of Asia and drive growth in the four trillion dollar broader regional market, a top US official said on Wednesday.

Afghanistan’s transformation to a democracy will “reestablish the country’s role as a land bridge connecting Central Asia, South Asia and Southwest Asia,” US ambassador to Kabul Zalmay Khalilzad said.

US-backed Afghan leader Hamid Karzai has apparently prevailed in the country’s landmark October 11 presidential elections — though official results are not in, Karzai is well ahead with at least 55 percent of the ballots counted.

The region is a “historic and growing regional market with a total gross domestic product of four trillion dollars,” said Khalilzad, the highest-ranking native Afghan and Muslim in the Bush administration. Speaking at John Hopkins University in Washington, Khalilzad — who is seen as having played a key role in Karzai’s victory — said the region had been artificially fragmented by politics of the 20th century.

The Cold War, the India-Pakistan conflict, the Iranian revolution and the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan have all “sundered east-west and north-south lines of trade and communication,” he said, noting however “these divisions are being overcome.”

Khalilzad said the United States and other donors were restoring the Afghan ring road and regional spurs that would create two north-south axes terminating at the Pakistan port of Gwadar and Iranian port of Chabahar facing the Arabian Sea. Planning is underway for rail and pipelines connecting Central Asia to South Asia and world markets through the Arabian Sea, he said.

The connections will have both economic and geopolitical effects, said Khalilzad, who is seen by many as holding real power in the country. afp

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