Ashgabat, Kabul mull prospects of TAPI project
By Trend
President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov discussed topical issues of cooperation with his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in a phone conversation, the Turkmen government said in a message March 12.
The two presidents noted the high dynamics of expanding cooperation in multilateral format – in international organizations and regional structures.
Afghanistan’s president said that construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the transportation and communication projects initiated by Ashgabat will be a valuable contribution to the peaceful settlement of the situation in Afghanistan and the sustainable social and economic development of the entire region.
It was noted that construction of the Afghan section of the TAPI gas pipeline, which started in February, will give a powerful momentum to the economic development of Afghanistan and will contribute to the strengthening of peace and stability.
Presidents of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues of mutual interest.
Turkmen leader congratulated Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on the adoption of a resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Under the document, members of the UN Security Council supported regional projects for Afghanistan’s development, including the construction of TAPI and the Kerki-Ymamnazar-Akina railway, which is the starting segment of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan corridor.
The above-mentioned projects also include the construction of an international power transmission line and fiber-optic communications.
Turkmenistan’s biggest field Galkynysh will be the raw materials source for the TAPI project, the implementation of which started in December 2015.
Turkmen gas will help meet the growing energy consumption in India and Pakistan, where the demand may increase twofold until 2030. Also Turkmen gas will help eliminate the permanent deficit of energy resources in the transit country, Afghanistan.
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