19.Dec.2011
With New Supply Routes, U.S. Avoids One-Time Bestie Pakistan
Buy scenic routes
According to the new SRFC report, the US has increasingly relied on the Northern Distribution Network to send non-military supplies to Afghanistan since 2009. “Close to 75 per cent of ground sustainment cargo is now shipped via the NDN.” The NDN, according to report, is made up of three land routes. “One stretching from the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti, through Baku, Azerbaijan, across the Caspian Sea, and into Central Asia; one from the Latvian port of Riga through Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan; and a final route that originates in Latvia and travels through Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and passes into Afghanistan via Tajikistan.”
Citing figures from the US Transportation Command, only 29 per cent of cargo goes through Pakistan, whereas 40 per cent goes through the NDN, and the rest is shipped by air. However, the committee report says that the NDN is not an ideal replacement for current supply routes in Pakistan. The NDN only allows goods to be sent to Afghanistan and not back, and also only allows for the transit of non-lethal supplies. “Sensitive and high-technology equipment is transported by airlift.”
• Read more at The Express Tribune
