Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Dec. 24
By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend
The foundation laying ceremony of the Afghan section of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline is planned to be held in the second half of February 2018, the Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary state news agency said.
The ceremony will be held on the Turkmen-Afghan border. This topic was touched upon during a telephone conversation between Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Indian President Ram Nath Kovind.
The Turkmen president invited the Indian counterpart to take part in the events scheduled for the second half of February 2018.
Among these events are the foundation laying ceremony of the Afghan section of the TAPI gas pipeline, laying the fiber optic line along that route, construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power transmission line and the commissioning ceremony of the Serhetabat-Torghundi railway.
President Kovind stressed that the Indian side attaches great importance to the TAPI project, as well as other infrastructure projects that are designed to accelerate the economic integration of Afghanistan and contribute to the prosperity of the countries of the entire region.
The TAPI pipeline will run from Galkynysh – the largest gas field in Turkmenistan – through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar, and finally reach the Fazilka settlement located near the India-Pakistan border.
Annual capacity of the gas pipeline will be 33 billion cubic meters.
Turkmenistan started constructing its TAPI section in December 2015 and the construction is expected to take three years. The total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers. A 214-kilometer section of the pipeline will run through Turkmenistan, a 774-kilometer section will run through Afghanistan and an 826-kilometer section will run through Pakistan.