Afghan, Turkmen officials inspect progress on TAPI project

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): Senior officials from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan have inspected the progress of work on the TAPI gas pipeline project and its related routes inside Afghanistan.

Maulvi Hidayatullah Badri, Minister of Mines and Petroleum, along with some officials from Herat and a high-level Turkmen delegation led by Rashid Meredov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, visited the ongoing work sites of the TAPI project in Afghan territory on Monday.

During the visit, both sides expressed satisfaction over the project’s progress inside Afghanistan, describing it as significant and promising.

Homayoun Afghan, spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, said that over 100 kilometers of the TAPI route up to Herat had been surveyed, and around 70 kilometers of route prepared for pipeline installation.

He explained 14 kilometers of the pipeline have so far been installed, while another 60 kilometers of road have been constructed.

According to him, during the meeting, the two sides also discussed accelerating the project’s implementation and strengthening technical cooperation between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Maulvi Mohammad Ishaq Sahibzada, deputy minister of Public Works, said in addition to TAPI construction activities, related facilities at the Torghundi port were also being developed with around $7 million funding from Turkmenistan.

Once completed, these facilities would provide considerable ease in gas transmission and trade operations, he added.

Separately, Herat governor Sheikh Maulvi Islam Jar said that work on the TAPI project continued using modern equipment, and that Turkmen officials during their visit expressed strong interest in speeding up the project’s progress.

The TAPI project (Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India gas pipeline) is one of the region’s major energy initiatives, designed to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India.

The pipeline spans 1,800 kilometers in total, of which 816 kilometers pass through Afghanistan.

hz/ma