Turkmenistan announced on Friday that it intends to build a gas pipeline from the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan border to the Herat offtake point in Afghanistan. Pakistan was assured by Turkmenistan that all concerns over the the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline (TAPI) would be addressed.
The Turkmen delegation said they intended to start construction activities in Afghanistan by building the TAPI gas pipeline from the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan border to the Herat offtake point. It is expected that with the advent of the of the project, the confidence of international investors’ is going to boost.
Both sides reviewed progress on the projectÂ
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar led a team that held discussions with a Turkmenistan delegation, headed by TAPI Pipeline Company Limited CEO Muhammetmyrat Amanov, on the project. Both sides reviewed progress on the project and expressed satisfaction with the developments made so far by TAPI Pipeline Company despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus outbreak.
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Pakistan extends its full support in commencing the development of the project and is whole heartedly interested in rebuilding an international standard gas infrastructure in Afghanistan, sources said.
Pakistan’s legal and commercial concerns were discussed by both sides. Turkmenistan officials stressed that Pakistan’s concerns would be adequately addressed in relevant agreements and negotiations would starts as soon as COVID-19 threat subsides globally.
TAPI gas pipeline:Â Pakistan to finalise construction mattersÂ
Pakistani officials expressed their readiness to finalise all the matters in order to press ahead with construction work in parallel with the work in Afghanistan stated sources.
The two sides also agreed to finalise the Host Government Agreement by the end of this year. The Turkmen delegation revealed that their negotiations with international lending agencies and export credit agencies were going on well.
Pakistani officials informed the Turkmen team that they would like to hold the TAPI project groundbreaking in Pakistan at the earliest after the finalisation of all issues under discussion. Turkmenistan appreciated the support given by Pakistani authorities for achieving the targets and fast progress on implementation of the project to meet growing energy needs of Pakistan.