Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Feb. 9
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has met Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of India to Turkmenistan Azar Abul Hasan Khan, the Turkmen government said in a message on Feb. 9.
At the meeting, the sides paid particular attention to the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline construction project, designed to make significant contribution to the sustainable socio-economic development of Asian countries, and in general contribute to strengthening global energy security, the message said.
Stressing Turkmenistan’s special interest in strengthening traditional cooperation with India, which acts as a strategic partner in the implementation of important regional projects, Berdimuhamedov noted that cooperation between the two states meets their mutual interests.
The parties stressed importance of the intergovernmental Turkmen-Indian commission on trade, economic, scientific and technological cooperation.
Construction of the Turkmen section of the TAPI gas pipeline began in December 2015. The design capacity of TAPI reaches 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
The pipeline is scheduled to run along the Kandahar-Herat Highway in western Afghanistan, and further through the cities of Quetta and Multan in Pakistan. The pipeline’s route will end in the Indian city of Fazilka.