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Kabul: Security officials of the Afghan interim government, in a meeting with the executive officials of the project to transfer Turkmenistan’s gas from Afghanistan to India and Pakistan (TAPI), assured the security of this project in Afghanistan.
The economic deputy of the Taliban cabinet said that if needed, they would form a special security unit to ensure the safety of this project.
In the statement, Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, says that economic, political and security development of the region is a joint responsibility of all the countries in the region and joint measures should be taken in this field.
In this announcement, it is stated that the delegation of the Ministry of Defense, Interior and Intelligence has met with the authorities of Turkmenistan a few days ago and assured them about the security of the TAPI project.
Meanwhile Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov has said that if “some security issues” of the TAPI project are resolved, Russia may join the TAPI project.
Russian energy minister said in an interview with Tass news agency that Russia is not among the countries of the TAPI gas pipeline project, but said “we do not rule out the possibility of joining it”.
TAPI is a natural gas transmission pipeline from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, which kicked off in Kabul in August 2016.
The total length of the TAPI gas pipeline is 1,814 km, and this pipeline transfer gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India through Afghanistan. This pipeline passes through the provinces of Herat, Farah, Nimroz, Helmand and Kandahar, and 816 kilometers out of a total of 1,814 are stretched in Afghanistan.
TAPI pipeline has the annual capacity to transfer 33 billion cubic meters of gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Afghanistan, which has a transit role in this project, is also one of the buyers of imported gas. According to the agreement, Afghanistan will buy 3 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan in three decades. Along the TAPI gas pipeline route, 12 pressure pumps will be installed, five of which will be built in Afghanistan worth one billion dollars. In this way, Herat is the first province that will make cheaper and wider use of imported energy.
