Work on historic Silk Road underway: Amiri

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): The construction of historic Silk Road between Afghanistan and China has reached to the zero point between the two countries, an official said on Friday.

Eng. Zabihullah Amiri, head of the provincial Information and Cultural Affairs, visited the Pamir and the Ghajeer valleys. He told Pajhwok Afghan News the construction work has reached to the zero point.

The first phase of the Silk Road, which was started by the engineering department of the Ministry of National Defense, with a length of 60 km and a width of 11 meters, was started from Ishkashim district has been constructed till the Khandud area of Wakhan district, some parts were ready for asphalting, earlier the administrative aide of the acting PM said that the asphalting work will be launched in the near future.”

Amiri termed the Wakhan corridor vital for Afghanistan and the region and said that after the completion of this route and the re-opening of the Chinese port, the people of Afghanistan would be provided with many facilities in the economic field and the East Asia with connected with the South Asia.

Ameeri said: “The construction of this road started last year from the Bazaegumbad area went through the Ghajeer valley’s historic road and reached the zero point of till the Afghanistan, China border, It is 50 kilometres long and seven metres wide and completely ready for movement.”

This historic road is 450 kilometres long starting from Faizabad, the provincial capital of Badakhshan. The asphalting work of 150 kilometres till Ishkashim has been almost 80 percent completed and work on the remaining 300 kilomentres till Wakhan was underway.