The long-awaited mega gas pipeline project of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) connecting the energy-rich Central Asian nation with the South Asian countries was inaugurated on Friday, with leaders of the four countries attending its groundbreaking ceremony in Serhetabat followed by another in Herat.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and Indian Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar along with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani participated in the inauguration ceremony, which was held amid tight. In an exceptional show of regional cooperation, the quartet aims to complete the 1,840-kilometre pipeline at a cost of $8 billion within two years to begin pumping 33 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas annually from Turkmenistan’s giant Galkynysh gas field. It is pleasing development that all the participating leaders vowed to further strengthen regional cooperation. It was hoped that TAPI will pave the way for many more regional projects.
Security concerns were looming over the protection of gas pipeline, particularly to its part that will pass through Afghanistan as Afghan insurgents hold control of large territory of the country. But in a rare move to support government of Afghanistan, Afghan Taliban vowed to protect the pipeline in areas under their control. In a statement emailed to media outlets, Qari Mohammad Yusuf Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesperson, claimed credit for the project, implying that it was initially planned during the Taliban regime, and said the group will ensure its security in areas under its control.
The work on the Afghan part of the multibillion-dollar project has officially begun, pipeline will transport Caspian Sea natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India. Main purpose of the pipeline is to address the shortage of gas in three South Asian countries but observers also believe that inter-dependence on each other would also promote peace in the region. It is evident that Pakistan’s relations with India and sometimes with Afghanistan are marred by much bitterness and long time stability remains missing. This pipeline can help in achieving peaceful relations with the neighboring countries. We hope timely completion of the project because volatile history of the region casts shadow of doubts also. It is hoped that this spirit of cooperation takes the project through the next few years till it becomes operational.