Azerbaijan, Baku, April 13 / Trend E. Mehdiyev /
The implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline construction project will make a significant contribution to the stability in the region, expert on energy policy and security, Baku State University (BSU) teacher Bakhtiar Aslanbayli said at the conference "Chicago Summit - new opportunities for Euro-Atlantic Partnership" in Baku today.
Speaking about the contribution of NATO member states and partners in the security and stability in Afghanistan, he emphasized the importance of regional projects.
He added that the intergovernmental agreement in connection with the TAPI pipeline was signed by official representatives of four countries on December 1, 2010.
He stressed that in the case of the TAPI implementation, the prospects of the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline will be zero.
He underscored that the close strengthening of economic and political ties between Central Asia and South Asia will lead to further weakening of Russia's position in the region.
He said that TAPI regional energy project, having geo-economic advantages, can seriously affect Afghanistan's economic development and energy supply, the future format of the Pakistani-Indian relations and the settlement of regional conflicts.
The base document for the TAPI project promotion is the Ashgabat interstate agreement of the member-states about the beginning of the practical implementation of the TAPI project signed in late 2010. The agenda has a key issue of gas pipeline security which will pass through turbulent Afghanistan.
TAPI design capacity is up to 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The buyers are gas companies of Pakistan and India. The project is promoted by the Asian Development Bank. Besides Dovletabat field, the largest field being developed in Turkmenistan "Southern Yoloten - Osman" ("Galkynysh") may be a resource base. The length of the pipe may reach 1,735 kilometers.