The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will not stop any effort for implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, Tolo News reports.
Acting Afghan Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Shahabuddin Delawar said this in a meeting with Muhammetmyrat Amanov, CEO, TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd (TPCL).
TPCL comprises state-owned Turkmengaz (controlling stake), Afghan Gas Corporation, Pakistan's Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited and India's GAIL.
Construction of the pipeline, with an annual capacity of 33bn cubic metres of gas, began in December 2015. Experts told Daryo that the project is stuck in Afghan territory as negotiations with the new Taliban government in Kabul, which took power in Afghanistan in 2021, have started from virtually scratch.
At the same time, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which had lobbied for the project, closed its office in Kabul pending international recognition of the Islamic Emirate.
Security is also a pressing issue. Taliban field commanders promise to form 30,000 fighters to protect the TAPI infrastructure, which the Khorasan branch of the Islamic State threatens to destroy.
Credits: Eziz Boyarov
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