Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev also recently stated that the government was “actively working” with the Taliban leadership to create a trans-Afghan rail route to speed the flow of Uzbek goods to Pakistani seaports. A trans-Afghan trade corridor would be the most efficient way for goods to move from Central Asia to Pakistan. Plans to develop the route, however, have been clouded by a deep freeze in Afghan-Pakistani relations, which has prompted Islamabad to close its main land border crossings, halting truck-borne trade. Uzbekistan and Pakistan plan to sign a protocol that formalizes the expansion of trans-China trade soon, according to Pakistani sources. For the immediate future, any Uzbek-Pakistani protocol would likely cover truck-borne trade via China.