KABUL (Pajhwok): In a latest development, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pledged on Wednesday to expedite the comencement process of the stalled gas pipeline project in the region, media reports said.
The Pakistani dawn.com reported that the agreement emerged during a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif which was attended by the ministers from TAPI member states.
During the course of meeting, it was decided that a consortium leader would soon be finalised for the project’s immediate commencement.
Terming the project “very important for all countries of the region”, Sharif said Pakistan was keen to expedite the deal. “Pakistan would be happy to play a positive role in this regard,” Sharif remarked.
Sharif told the meeting Islamabad was facing cute shortage of gas, and this project would help the country in meeting the deficit. He further added, “We all should take this opportunity seriously so that we can fulfill our obligation to our people.”
It was stressed that all stakeholders should take necessary steps to start the project at the earliest as the cost would rise with the passage of time. The visiting ministers of the member countries shared similar views and called the project of vital importance for all the states involved in the project.
In 2010, the presidents of the three partner countries and India’s then Water and Energy minister had agreed to complete the project.
Oil ministers of the four countries had met at the last steering committee meeting in Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) on November 20, 2014 and set themselves a three-month deadline to resolve all pending issues so that work on the ambitious project can start by 2015.
