Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Dec.10 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is expected to pay a working visit to Ashgabat today, the Turkmen government said.
"The upcoming bilateral, top level talks in Ashgabat will add a new chapter to the history of the traditionally friendly Turkmen-Pakistani relations and fill them with a qualitatively new content as consistent with modern realities and the potential for our international cooperation," the government said.
Zardari will attend a high-level Ashgabat summit on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project on Dec. 11. During the summit, an interstate agreement and an individual agreement will be signed on the sale of raw materials.
During a telephone conversation with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov in September, Zardari said "this project is strongly supported in his country." Ashgabat recently said it seeks to supply Turkmen electricity to Pakistan, which is already being supplied to Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.
The last private meeting between the two presidents was held in March 2009 in Tehran during an Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit
The Neutralniy Turkmenistan newspaper reported today that the Pakistani president's visit to Turkmenistan will give a new impetus to the development of the constructive political dialogue existing between the two countries, and also help to expand and diversity trade and economic cooperation.