Afghanistan re-opens request for corridor road

Afghanistan is once again eager to develop the Wakhan Corridor along the China border, Afghan Second Vice-President Mohammad Karim Khalili said yesterday in Beijing.

"It is an opportunity for both Afghanistan and China to boost security and trade cooperation by opening the 76-km-long border shared by Afghanistan and China," he said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai proposed the idea of constructing a Wakhan road connecting Afghanistan and China to his Chinese counterpart, President Hu Jintao, last year. The Afghan vice-president said "the Chinese side agreed to begin a feasibility study on the road building" during his meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao in January.