Risks rise in Hormuz, Bosphorus: Russia proposes direct rail link to India

Russia is exploring a railway route to the Indian Ocean that could provide an alternative to the Bosphorus and the Strait of Hormuz

"A rail link to the Indian Ocean should also be explored. Risks related to the Bosphorus and the Strait of Hormuz might require alternative routes: through Turkmenistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Any options providing access to India are acceptable," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin told news agency TASS.

The proposal comes as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted shipping through the strategic waterway. Roughly 25% of global oil trade and about 20% of LNG shipments pass through the strait.

Similarly, the Bosphorus Strait is a key artery for Russian oil exports from the Black Sea. Around 3.3 million barrels per day of crude and petroleum products passed through the strait in the first half of 2025. The total includes large volumes of Kazakh and other Caspian oil.

Russia itself ships hundreds of thousands of barrels per day through its Black Sea hub of Novorossiysk.

However, Turkey, a NATO member, controls the Bosphorus Strait.

Don't Miss: A case study in energy security: How India recovered oil imports and rebuilt its crude stockpile

A ROUTE FULL OF BOTTLENECKS

A direct rail connection from Russia to the Indian Ocean would be an ambitious project. But the proposed route also runs through countries where relations have become increasingly difficult.

Pakistan's relations with both Afghanistan and India have deteriorated in recent times. That could become a major obstacle to any Russia-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India rail corridor.

The proposal also brings back memories of another ambitious regional connectivity project - the TAPI gas pipeline.

Must Watch: Iran War Expands? Ukraine Strikes Iranian Ship, Caspian Sea Emerges As New Flashpoint | Explained

TAPI'S UNFINISHED JOURNEY

The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline was conceived as an approximately 1,800-km route to carry Turkmen natural gas through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India.

The project promised India access to relatively cheap Central Asian gas. But its route turned it into a security, financing and geopolitical challenge.

The Afghanistan section of TAPI has since been revived. Turkmenistan and Afghanistan launched work on the Serhetabat-Herat section in September 2024, while the Taliban government continues to promote TAPI as a major economic project.

But the original Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline remains unrealised decades after it was first proposed.

HORMUZ RISKS

The latest Russian proposal comes amid the conflict between the US and Iran and problems with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Ever since the US and Israel launched military action against Iran on February 28, Iran's all-powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has restricted traffic in the strait. The IRGC also carried out large-scale retaliatory operations targeting US military facilities in Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Iranian authorities decided to block the Strait of Hormuz to vessels linked to the US, Israel and countries that supported what Tehran described as aggression against the Islamic Republic.

Against that backdrop, Moscow is looking at alternative routes.