Pakistan and Türkiye have agreed to strengthen their strategic partnership in the railway sector, reaffirming their commitment to improving regional connectivity, boosting trade, and modernizing transport infrastructure. The understanding was reached during high-level meetings between officials from both countries as part of their broader efforts to deepen economic and infrastructure cooperation.
The two sides agreed to expand collaboration in railway planning, infrastructure development, logistics, and technical expertise. They also discussed sharing Turkish experience in railway modernization and exploring opportunities for investment, technology transfer, and capacity building within Pakistan’s railway network.
A key focus of the discussions was enhancing regional connectivity through the Islamabad–Tehran–Istanbul (ITI) railway corridor, which links Pakistan with Iran and Türkiye. Both countries reiterated their commitment to making the corridor more commercially viable by improving coordination, removing operational bottlenecks, and simplifying transport procedures to facilitate faster and more cost-effective freight movement between South Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
The railway partnership forms part of the broader Pakistan–Türkiye strategic relationship, which also covers trade, investment, defence, energy, maritime affairs, and technology. Leaders of both countries have recently reaffirmed their goal of increasing bilateral trade to US$5 billion through stronger economic cooperation and improved transport links.
Pakistan is currently pursuing comprehensive reforms of its railway system, including upgrading major rail lines, expanding freight capacity, improving passenger services, encouraging private-sector participation, and modernizing railway infrastructure. Turkish expertise is expected to support these efforts while creating new opportunities for joint projects in transport and logistics.
Officials from both countries expressed confidence that expanding railway cooperation would strengthen economic integration, increase trade flows, improve regional connectivity, and further deepen the longstanding strategic partnership between Pakistan and Türkiye. They emphasized that enhanced rail links would play an important role in supporting sustainable economic growth and connecting regional markets more efficiently.
