Khanifov: Tatarstan and India need a cargo logistics system

Tatarstan and India need to build a transport cargo logistics system, Tatarstan's Minister of Transport and Road Management Farit Khanifov said. He made the remark at a press conference in Kazan for the second Russian-Indian business forum "Time."

Khanifov said talks on possible Kazan–Mumbai air flights will continue. He stressed that developing cargo transport requires comprehensive cooperation rather than focus on a single mode of transport. He said Tatarstan is a reliable cargo hub thanks to the Sviyazhsk multimodal logistics complex and the Deng Xiaoping logistics complex, and called for a common scheme of cooperation along the North–South and West–East transport corridors.

Mohammed Ajaz Shafi, CEO and managing director of East West Freight Carriers Ltd, said the company is studying opportunities on existing corridors in Russia and considering other international routes, including the China–Italy–North–South corridor. He added that it is following the development of the Northern Sea Route with interest. Manish Singhal, chairman of the board of Dimaz Group, said there is potential for another direction, the so-called Eastern corridor, which he said should run through China and Tajikistan into Russia to reach the central part of the country.