the Minister of Roads and Transportation, Mohammad Rahmati, said here that Iran's railway network would link up with Pakistan's in a year, with the completion of Kerman-Bam-Zahedan railroad project.
According to the Ministry's Public Relation Department, the Minister told the Secretary General of the Economic Co-operation Organisation (ECO) on Saturday that with the linking of Iran's railway to Quetta, the country would be connected to the Central Asian countries and Turkey.
He viewed that Quetta railway should be reconstructed, as its current situation is not suitable for optimum use. Turning to the completion of Iran's railway link to the Turkish network, he said that, in the preliminary stage, the railroad of Van Lake should be completed under a finance project.
For his part, the new ECO Secretary General, Khurshid Anwar, expressed satisfaction with his visit, and underlined the effective role of transportation in expanding co-operation among members of the organisation.
"Trade, energy and transportation are considered the three major activities of the organisation and, without transportation, the two other factors will not be materialised," he added. He noted that ECO Insurance Committee was established by Iran, and expressed hope that Tehran would play a key role at the committee meeting.