BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 14
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
Turkmenistan invites India to join the Investment Fund to be established in Turkmenistan for the development of the private sector, Trend reports with reference to Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This was said during a videoconference between representatives of Turkmenistan and India.
The parties identified a number of priority areas for cooperation, in particular, energy, information technology, transport and communication infrastructure, light industry, culture and tourism, science and education, as well as health.
During the discussions, the sides expressed the need to intensify mutual dialogue within the framework of the Joint Intergovernmental Turkmen-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation.
In this aspect, the effective cooperation of state and private structures of Turkmenistan and India, as well as the need to intensify bilateral meetings of Turkmen and Indian experts on cybersecurity and anti-terrorist issues and other areas of mutual interest were emphasized.
The parties also noted the fruitfulness of bilateral and multilateral cooperation within the framework of India-Central Asia Dialogue and the India-CA Business Council.
Transport is considered as one of the topical areas of business partnership between the two countries. The possibilities of the North-South transnational transport corridor project are being explored, using the potential of the seaports of the two countries.
Ashgabat and Delhi are also discussing interaction opportunities in the chemical and electric power industries. A special role is assigned to the construction project of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline with a capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
The construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI was launched on December 13, 2015, while the construction of the Afghan section commenced in February 2018.
The energy bridge will then pass through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar (816 kilometers), through the cities of Quetta and Multan across Pakistani territory (819 kilometers), and reach the settlement of Fazilka in India.
The leader of TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd is Turkmengas, which has the controlling stake and acts as the main financier and project manager. The consortium also includes the Afghan Gas Corporation, Pakistan’s Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited, and Indian GAIL.
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