AFGHANISTAN TIMES

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KABUL: An operational agreement on Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pas pipeline (TAPI) project was signed on Friday, said media reports.

Pipeline stretching 700 kilometers will transfer gas from oil-rich Turkmenistan to the energy-starved South Asian countries. While supporting the gas supply project, Washington has hailed it as an ideal scheme to tackle energy shortages in Pakistan.

Dawn News reported Pakistan and India would each receive about 42 percent of the gas and Afghanistan the remainder. The pipeline will deliver up to 33 billion cubic meters of gas annually.

Ministers of petroleum from the four countries attended the 18th meeting of the TAPI Steering Committee in Turkmenistan on July 10.

According to experts, TAPI is not only a regional project envisaging the transportation of Turkmen gas, but also a global project. They believe that the implementation of the project will strengthen the independence of Turkmenistan and its gas supplies to world markets will increase significantly.

Furthermore, observers say that the main benefit of the project is an opportunity to contribute to the stabilization of Afghanistan, and its implementation could contribute to the rehabilitation process in the post-war country as it will create jobs and provide Afghanistan with guaranteed income from transit.

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