BAKU: Qatar is exploring the possibility of joining the North-South International Transport Corridor (ITC), Director of the Department of Economic Cooperation (DEC) of the Russian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Birichevsky said in an interview with Izvestia, Trend reports. "The North-South ITC has become a focal point in the transport and logistics sector. There has been a noticeable increase in activity there now. And this is not just some corridor from north to south, it is a whole network of routes: the western route, which we are currently developing together with Azerbaijan and Iran, and the eastern branch, which is connected with Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran. All this is being done to ensure that there are reliable routes for the delivery of goods from Russia to the countries of the South, primarily to the south of Iran, from there to the Persian Gulf with access to the Indian Ocean, so that we can trade with the rest of the world, regardless of the political decisions that our former partners from Euro pe or opponents from the United States might make. The North-South ITC is the biggest priority in our transport work. Other countries see this. They see this activity. They see the cargo flows. They see that it is profitable. Countries like Qatar are showing interest in this. In what form and how they can join is up to them to decide. If there is a road and political will, then there can be cooperation with any countries of the Middle East and then with access to the market of India, South Asia, and ASEAN countries,' said Dmitry Birichevsky. To note, the North-South International Transport Corridor is a 7,200 km multimodal route that connects St. Petersburg with the ports of Iran and India. It is an alternative to the sea route connecting Europe, the Persian Gulf countries, and the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal. The western and eastern branches of the ITC pass through Iran: the western branch provides for transportation through Iran by road via Rasht, and the eastern branch by rail. The final point in I ran is the port of Bandar Abbas, from which cargo can be delivered to India by sea. The western branch also passes through Azerbaijan, while the eastern branch passes through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Source: Trend News Agency