Turkmenistan, Аshgabat, 1 Nov. / Trend H.Hаsаnоv /
The President of the Republic of India Pratibha Devising Patil sent a letter to the Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov in which she expressed the hope for realization of the pipeline project Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI).
"I want to express my joy for the successful promotion of the TAPI project and hope that this project will be implemented through joint efforts," says the message timed to coincide with the celebration of Turkmenistan the 20th anniversary of independence recently.
"Giving attention to the centuries of close and friendly relations between Turkmenistan and our state, we share the joy with your country's great victories and achievements over the past two decades," also said the Indian leader.
Currently, the key issue in the TAPI negotiations is the question of preparation of the contract of purchase and sale of Turkmen gas.
This project is actively promoting the Asian Development Bank that funded the preparation of its technical and economic feasibility.
The basic document for the promotion of TAPI is the inter-state agreement about the start of realization of TAPI, signed in Ashgabat on a high level in December 2010.
At this stage, the parties involved in the project will also agree on the security of transit and settle the issue of funding.
Experts note that a major obstacle for implementing the TAPI pipeline is continuing escalation of tension in Afghanistan. In connection with this Ashgabat proposed a UN-sponsored inter-Afghan peace talks.
Berdymukhammedov recently in a speech in Ashgabat, said that construction of TAPI capable of giving a serious boost to the economy of the nearest neighbor - Afghanistan, will solve the major social problems, including the issues of providing the population with work and attract investments into the country.
According to him, work to implement the project of TAPI gas pipeline initiated by Turkmenistan is being done "rapidly."
The length of the TAPI could reach 1700 km, its design capacity - 33 bcm of natural gas per year, the cost is estimated at 7-8 billion U.S. dollars.
At the 1680 km route of the future gas pipeline is planned to construct six compressor stations - from the Turkmen fields to the village Fazilka (India) on the border between Pakistan and India.
It is known that the source of raw materials in addition to the Dovletabad field will be Yoloten field - one of the world's super-giants with the resources of 21.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. Turkmenistan is taking active measures for its commercial development.