Across South Asia and beyond, international connectivity projects from ports to railways promise to bolster geopolitical relations, bring economic growth, and enhance people-to-people ties. In this South Asian Voices series, Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, Ayesha A. Malik, Soraya Parwani, and Nvard Chalikyan and Yeghia Tashjian discuss four core connectivity projects across South and Central Asia: Chabahar Port, Gwadar Port, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). Contributors discuss the initial aims of each project, challenges such as bureaucratic obstacles, inter-regional disputes, and local protests, and the future prospects of each project.
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Image: NASA Earth Observatory via Wikimedia Commons
