Kazakhstan nears opening new checkpoint for Afghanistan-bound U.S. cargo

TANA. November 3. KAZINFORM The lower house of the Kazakh parliament on Wednesday approved a bill to amend a Kazakh-U.S. agreement on commercial railway transit of special cargo for Afghanistan.

According to Xinhua, the amendment, which was signed in July in Washington, aims to open an alternative checkpoint in addition to the existing one on the Kazakh-Uzbek border.

"The transit will be carried out on a commercial basis. The United States will pay for all the services," Deputy Foreign Minister Konstantin Zhigalov, adding that the route would cross a less populated area of Kazakhstan.

The bill has been sent to the senate for further consideration.

Kazakhstan and the United States reached an agreement in 2010 which gave the United States access to a special cargo railway transit service through Kazakhstan to support the U.S. efforts in Afghanistan.

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