The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Rashid Meredov, discussed the current status of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project and several other issues with his Afghan counterpart, Amir Khan Mottaki, TASS reports citing Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Turkmenistan delegation, led by Meredov, made a working trip to the province of Herat in Afghanistan on December 16-17, 2023.
"The parties discussed the current status of the TAPI gas pipeline project, the high-voltage power transmission line Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP), and the expansion of Afghanistan's railway infrastructure. At the same time, the foreign ministers and members of the delegations of both states visited energy and transportation facilities, the construction of which is carried out by Turkmen and Afghan companies," the Turkmen Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said.
From the Afghan side, in addition to the Foreign Minister, Minister of Mines and Industry Shahabuddin Delawar and Minister of Industry and Trade Nuretdin Azizi also participated in the meeting. It is noted that several issues related to the further development of bilateral cooperation across a wide range of areas were also considered.
TAPI is a major gas pipeline project through which Turkmenistan will supply gas to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. It will traverse the territories of these four countries: from the Galkynysh gas field in southern Turkmenistan through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar, the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Multan, to the city of Fazilka in western India, near the India-Pakistan border. Negotiations on the construction of TAPI have been ongoing since the mid-1990s, and India joined the project in 2007.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
December 18, 2023