I have said this in the past aswell,if pakistan somehow agree to give india access to Afghanistan-iran-central asia,they will give up Chabahar even with the hundreds of million dollars already invested.
Incorrect. Pakistan is required to be cost competitive in Afghanistan.
Iran is far better placed to trade with Central Asia(including Turkey) cost competitively, for India and everyone else.
You must understand that distances that vast are simply not covered by road. It becomes cost ineffective. Pakistans cost advantage is only for Afghanistan. And Iran and Central Asian states are cashing in on this opportunity.
Yes. Our highway inter connectivity is much better than India.
And about safety, these motorways are access controlled. They are safe and secure. As much as any 'safe' road in India.
Yes.
Pakistan has a better highway system than India.
Though the difference will be eliminated in the coming 10 years. The sustained investment in Roads over the last decade and a half (since 2000) have yielded results - India has been slowly catching up with Pakistan.
Last, the central asian states aren't exactly rich, and neither do they have demand for such infrastructure. They will need outside investment, and what better place than China that borders them?
India wants to get into Central Asia, but it is having hard time getting into Afghanistan. That's the first step.
China is already investing in those projects. I told you, China is the first country that actually
started pushing Iran, Turkey and other States(including CAR) into this transportation grid. It was essentially China's idea. This was a decade ago.
Now the only thing new is that Iran is connecting this grid with Chabahar.
As I said earlier, Afghanistan is irrelevant to India's wish to get a direct economic line into Central Asia. Our push into Central Asia is directly dependent on Chabahar and the accompanying rail and road links being constructed along with the rail links being made in Central Asian States. And of particular importance is the Turkey-Iran transportation links being made now.
Afghanistan is completely irrelevant to these issues.
The Central Asian states dont have to be rich economically, they have to be rich in resources - which is why China and India are interested and why rail and port connectivity are important.