ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Turkmenistan have decided to accelerate work on the TAPI pipeline project linking the energy-rich Central Asian country through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India, Radio Pakistan said on Friday.
The pipeline is expected to carry 33 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas each year along a route stretching 1,800 km (1,125 miles) from Galkynysh, the world’s second-biggest gas field, to the Indian city of Fazilka near the Pakistan border.
The project was launched in Afghanistan in 2018, when the Taliban was fighting the Western-backed government in Kabul, but it pledged its cooperation for a project it hailed as a key future element of the economic infrastructure.
Afghanistan, which suffers chronic energy shortages, is expected to take 5 percent of the gas itself, with the rest divided equally between Pakistan and India.
“Pakistan and Turkmenistan have decided to accelerate work on TAPI gas pipeline project,” Radio Pakistan reported after Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik met the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Cabinet of Turkmenistan, Rashid Meredow, who was on a two-day visit to Pakistan.
“Substantial progress has been made through collaboration on the TAPI Gas Pipeline project aimed at promoting economic integration and energy security,” Musadik was quoted as saying by Radio Pakistan.
The CEO of TAPI Pipeline Company who was also at the meeting said the pipeline project had made “significant progress and was on the right track due to the interest of Pakistan’s Ministry of Petroleum and Special Investment Facilitation Council.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredow said that a “roadmap” would be prepared for enhancing cooperation between Pakistan and Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic sitting on 4 percent of the world’s natural gas reserves, plans to triple gas output to 230 billion cubic meters (bcm) over the next 20 years. With a population of only 5 million, it will export nearly 80 percent.
Turkmenistan traditionally sends its gas north to Soviet-era master Russia but is becoming an increasingly important supplier to China, Iran and Europe. India and Pakistan, via the TAPI pipeline, would also offer potentially large new export markets.
Pakistan wants to position itself as a regional trade hub and to leverage its strategic geopolitical position and enhance its role as a pivotal trade and transit hub connecting the landlocked Central Asian reoublics with the rest of the world. In recent months, there has been a flurry of visits, investment talks, and economic activity between Pakistan and Central Asian states and meetings with leaders from Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
Pakistan, Turkmenistan to accelerate work on trans-Afghan gas pipeline
https://arab.news/jz646
Pakistan, Turkmenistan to accelerate work on trans-Afghan gas pipeline
- TAPI pipeline will link energy-rich Central Asian country through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India
- India and Pakistan, via TAPI pipeline, will offer potentially large new export markets to Turkmenistan
Captain Agha reiterates Pakistan’s refusal to play India at the T20 World Cup
- India vs. Pakistan is usually the showpiece match in world tournaments, with the eyeballs on it rising into the hundreds of millions
- The boycott has caused an uproar and the International Cricket Council is trying to resolve the issue with the Pakistan Cricket Board
COLOMBO: Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha has reiterated that his team will abide by his government’s ruling not to play India in the much-anticipated Twenty20 World Cup fixture next week.
India vs. Pakistan is usually the showpiece match in world tournaments — the eyeballs on it rise into the hundreds of millions. The boycott has caused an uproar and the International Cricket Council is trying to resolve the problem with the Pakistan Cricket Board.
At a captains’ media conference on Thursday, Agha repeated the team will follow its government’s advice.
“The India game is not in our control,” Agha said. “The government has decided and we respect that. Whatever they are saying we’ll do.
“We are playing three other (group) games and we are excited about that.”
Pakistan’s World Cup opener is against the Netherlands on Saturday in Colombo. It will play all of its games in co-host Sri Lanka. Namibia and the United States are also in the group. The India game is scheduled for Feb. 15 in Colombo.
In Mumbai, India captain Suryakumar Yadav said they were going to Colombo whether the match was on or not.
“(Our) mindset is pretty clear,” Yadav said. “We did not refuse to play them. The refusal came from them. ICC organized the fixture. BCCI and (Indian) government decided to play in neutral venue in coordination with ICC. Our flight to Colombo is booked. So we are going. We’ll see what happens later.”
The Pakistan government decision came after Bangladesh was kicked out of the World Cup by the ICC. Bangladesh refused to play in India for security reasons and wanted its games moved to Sri Lanka but the ICC dismissed those concerns.
Agha said he was saddened that Bangladesh wasn’t playing in the World Cup for the first time and asked Bangladeshi fans to back his team.
Pakistan has accused the ICC of double standards and not accommodating security concerns. India and Pakistan do not play in each other’s territory and meet in ICC tournaments only at neutral venues.
Their countries are embroiled in military and diplomatic tensions which have spilled into sports for more than a decade. Last year at the men’s Asian Cup and Women’s World Cup, the teams did not shake hands when they met.
