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Trend:

Turkmen deputy prime minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashid Meredov will visit Pakistan March 11-13, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmen government.

Political consultations, as well as a number of bilateral meetings, are planned to be held in Islamabad. The issues related to the intensification of the work on the implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline construction project will become subject of thorough discussion, the report said.

The aspects of cooperation in the electric power industry and telecommunications, including those related to the implementation of power transmission and fiber-optic communication lines along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) route will also be considered.

Transport sector has been defined as one of the priority directions of the partnership. In this context, it is planned to discuss the issues of creating a new transport corridor with the use of the possibilities for entering Europe through the Caspian Sea by using the transit potential of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan.

Construction of TAPI was launched in December 2015, while the Afghan section in February 2018. Pakistan plans to start the work on its pipeline section this year.

Turkmen gas is expected to be supplied through TAPI in 2020. The total length of the pipeline with a capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year will be 1,840 kilometers reaching the settlement of Fazilka on the border with India.

Being the leader of the international consortium TAPI Pipeline Company Limited, Turkmengas, having a controlling stake, performs the functions of the main financier and manager of the project. The consortium also includes the Afghan Gas Corporation, Pakistan’s Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited Company and India’s GAIL Company.