Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Jan. 7
By Huseyn Hasanov– Trend:
The Turkmen delegation is preparing to take part in the first meeting of foreign ministers of the countries participating in the Central Asia-India Dialogue to be held Jan. 12-13 in Samarkand city (Uzbekistan), Trend reports referring to the Turkmen "Altyn Asyr" TV channel.
The agenda will include issues of strengthening economic and humanitarian contacts between the states of Central Asia and India, as well as the implementation of regional projects with the participation of Afghanistan.
This issue was discussed in Ashgabat at the last government meeting. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted that India is an important political, trade and economic partner.
"Strengthening multilateral cooperation within the framework of this structure is of particular importance in terms of access of the Central Asian countries to the Indian Ocean," the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported quoting the Turkmen president.
Transport is considered one of the topical areas of India-Turkmenistan partnership. The possibilities of the North-South transnational corridor project with the use of potential of the seaports of the two countries, as well as prospects for developing ties in the field of air transport, are being explored.
Turkmenistan and India are also discussing partnership opportunities in the chemical and electric power industries. In addition, a special role in the business partnership is assigned to the construction project of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline with length of 1,840 kilometers and capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
The construction of the Turkmen section of the pipeline began in December 2015.
The consortium, with the participation of the Asian development Bank (ADB), continues active negotiations with all interested parties. Various options of participation in the project, such as participation in the company's share, project financing, financing through international development banks and with the help of export credit agencies from around the world are being examined.
As the leader of TAPI Pipeline company Limited, Turkmengas State Concern, which has a controlling stake, acts as the main financier and project manager. The consortium also includes the Afghanistan Gas Corporation, Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited and Indian GAIL.