Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Aug.5 / Trend, H. Hasanov /
A resolution "On the ratification of a Friendship and Cooperation Agreement between Turkmenistan and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan" was unanimously adopted at a regular meeting of the Turkmen Parliament during the fourth assembly, an official Turkmen source said.
The document was signed during Afghan President Hamid Karzai's official visit (May 28-29) to Ashgabat after talks with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov and in enlarged governments.
A package of bilateral cooperation was adopted in the spheres of power, transportation, trade, cultural, and humanitarian industries.
Various agreements were signed, including an agreement on the cooperation between the Chamber of Commerce, the Industry of Turkmenistan, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Industry of Afghanistan; a memorandum of understanding on further development for cooperation in the power industry; a framework agreement on the construction of the Atamurat - Ymamnazar (Turkmenistan) - Akina - Andkhoy (Afghanistan) main railway line; and an agreement on cooperation in culture, arts, media outlets, and tourism.
Turkmenistan, which carries positive neutrality status, recently offered to hold intra-Afghan peace talks in Ashgabat.
Turkmenistan's other initiatives on Afghanistan include the construction of the transnational gas Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, the implementation of which was launched in December last year.
The construction of a large energy infrastructure that would increase the volume of Turkmen electricity export to Afghanistan fivefold was launched in Turkmenistan in early 2011.
Also, Ashgabat's initiative to construct a new railway line Atamurat-Ymamnazar (Turkmenistan)-Akina-Andkhoy (Islamic Republic of Afghanistan) is an example of two neighboring countries eventually becoming an important link in the Eurasian continent's international transit system.