TOKYO -- Work on a long-planned shipping route connecting Russia with the Middle East and South Asia is moving forward as sanctions-hit Moscow seeks alternative markets for its products, creating a wide-ranging geopolitical ripple effects.
The 7,200-kilometer International North-South Transport Corridor will run from St. Petersburg in northwestern Russia to ports in southern Iran, and from there to Mumbai. This will provide a shipping route that bypasses Europe and is less than half as long as the current standard path through the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal.
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