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BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 25
By Amina Nazarli - Trend:
Representatives from the Afghan Interior and Defense Ministries presented Turkmenistan with the security plan for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, Trend reports citing Business Turkmenistan.
The plan was presented to Khoja Ovezov, Turkmenistan's Ambassador to Kabul and Muhammetmurat Amanov, CEO of TAPI Pipeline Company Limited during the meeting in Kabul.
The Turkmen delegation informed Afghan representatives that practical work on the TAPI project will begin in the coming days.
Earlier this January, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan have agreed
to resume construction of the TAPI gas pipeline in March.
Moreover, it was reported that Turkmenistan will provide
Afghanistan with a loan to cover expenses on the Afghan section,
which Afghanistan is going to repay in the future with project
proceeds.
The 1,814 kilometer-long TAPI gas pipeline is aimed to connect Turkmenistan to India via Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is aimed to connect the massive Galkynysh gas field in southern Turkmenistan to Fazilka in western India. The project is planned to pass through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar, Pakistani Quetta, and Multan before reaching Fazilka in western India.
The pipeline is expected to transmit 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year once completed.
In India, the end point of TAPI, the entire infrastructure has already been built in order to receive the gas pipeline. But Afghanistan and Pakistan have been unable to complete the construction of their sections for several years.