India is interested in joining the Lapis Lazuli international route, Trend reports referring to spokesperson of the port Vefa Safarli-Abdullazade on Dec. 25.
“The first transit cargo has arrived from Afghanistan to the Baku International Sea Trade Port along the Lapis Lazuli corridor,” she added.
“Nine trucks left Afghanistan’s Herat city on December 13 and arrived in Baku along this corridor,” she said. “The total volume of cargo is 175 tons. The cargo was transported through Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.”
“Afterwards, the cargo is expected to be transported through Azerbaijan to Georgia and Turkey, and then to the country of destination,” Safarli-Abdullazade said.
The cargoes are transported via trains and vehicles through Afghanistan’s Torghundi city in Herat province and supplied to Turkmenistan’s Ashgabat city and from there to the Turkmenbashi International Sea Port, as part of the Lapis Lazuli international route.
The corridor stretches to Azerbaijan’s Baku city, then through Georgia’s Tbilisi city to Turkey’s Ankara city with branches to Georgian Poti and Batumi, then from Ankara to Istanbul.
The project budget, which aims at facilitating transit logistics and simplification of customs procedures, is estimated at $2 billion.
The large-scale project is aimed at increasing the economic integration of the region and increasing the trade volumes.
