A Chinese goods train arrives in the Iranian capital Tehran on February 15, 2016, as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. A planned Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad train route will also fit into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature trade and infrastructure plan. Photo: EPA A Chinese goods train arrives in the Iranian capital Tehran on February 15, 2016, as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. A planned Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad train route will also fit into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature trade and infrastructure plan. Photo: EPA
A Chinese goods train arrives in the Iranian capital Tehran on February 15, 2016, as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. A planned Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad train route will also fit into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature trade and infrastructure plan. Photo: EPA
Sabena Siddiqi
Opinion

Opinion

Macroscope by Sabena Siddiqi

China’s belt and road: what’s holding up the trains from Pakistan to Turkey via Iran?

  • While the three countries involved in the rail project have announced it will be revived this year, it must still overcome infrastructural hurdles before it can kick-start important rail routes under China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Sabena Siddiqi
Sabena Siddiqi

Updated: 4:41pm, 17 Feb, 2021

Why you can trust SCMP
A Chinese goods train arrives in the Iranian capital Tehran on February 15, 2016, as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. A planned Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad train route will also fit into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature trade and infrastructure plan. Photo: EPA A Chinese goods train arrives in the Iranian capital Tehran on February 15, 2016, as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. A planned Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad train route will also fit into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature trade and infrastructure plan. Photo: EPA
A Chinese goods train arrives in the Iranian capital Tehran on February 15, 2016, as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. A planned Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad train route will also fit into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature trade and infrastructure plan. Photo: EPA
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Sabena Siddiqi

Sabena Siddiqi

Sabena Siddiqi is a foreign affairs journalist with a special focus on the Belt and Road Initiative, the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor and South Asia.