Pakistan and Turkmenistan Sign TAPI Joint Implementation Plan

“Maksat Babayev, State Minister of Turkmenistan and Head of Turkmen Gaz and Minister of State for Petroleum of Pakistan Musaddiq Malik signed the TAPI Joint Implementation Plan” in the presence of the Pakistan Prime Minister, the office of Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement. 

The agreement was signed on Thursday.  

Speaking to the reporters, the Pakistani PM said that he will ask his team to do anything within their ability to speed up the planning and execution of the TAPI project.  

“TAPI is a very important project for the prosperity of this entire region, starting from Ashgabat and going through Kabul and then Islamabad and then to India. This will help this region to secure natural gas with concrete assurances and mutually agreed terms and conditions,” he said.  

The Afghanistan Chamber of Industry and Mines (ACIM) said that TAPI will benefit Afghanistan’s economy.  

“When the practical work on TAPI pipeline projects has begun, this will give significance to Afghanistan both politically and economically as well as for the countries which are involved in this project including India, Pakistan and Turkmenistan,” said Sakhi Ahmad Paiman, deputy of ACIM. 

“The regional competition caused the pipeline to not move. As the pipeline is going from Turkmenistan to India, no regime opposed it, neither the republican government nor the Taliban,” said Sayed Masoud, an economist.  

The Islamic Emirate meanwhile said that it is fully prepared for the implementation of the TAPI pipeline project and that special units from the Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry have been assigned.  

“For the section that belongs to us, we have completed our task which means that full security is ensured in Afghanistan. The path from where the TAPI project is being crossed, its security is ensured. We have appointed the units both from the ministry of Defense and Interior,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Islamic Emirate.  

The deputy Minister of Economy, Abdul Latif Nazari, called on the World Bank to support the TAPI and CASA-1000 projects in Afghanistan.  

“I request the World Bank kicks off the CASA-1000 project and TAPI and has all kinds of cooperation with Afghanistan,” he said. 

Earlier, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum said that the technical work on the TAPI project ended and there are no problems with this project. At the same time, the land acquisition work for this project is also going on in Herat province.  

In Afghanistan, The TAPI project crosses through Herat, Farah, Nimroz, Helmand and Kandahar to Pakistan and India. 

The pipeline will span 1,814 km with 735 km of it crossing through Afghanistan.