India and Turkmenistan discuss construction of TAPI gas pipeline and other joint projects

Indian Foreign Minister, Sushma Swaraj, arrived on a three-day visit to resource-rich Turkmenistan to discuss key bilateral and regional issues, including military-technical cooperation and progress on the ambitious TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline project. worth 10 billion US dollars.

Swaraj arrived to work in the framework of the fifth intergovernmental joint commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation with her Turkmen counterpart Rashid Meredov, and also announced a possible visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Turkmenistan on July 11. Modi is expected to visit other countries in the region.

The Indian delegation is currently in Turkmenistan exploring the possibility of establishing joint ventures. Plans are underway to set up a fertilizer plant and other joint projects. “We talked about cultural relations and that Turkmenistan and India have long cultural and historical ties. I think that after this meeting, our relationship will be even deeper and stronger,” Swaraj said.

"The President of Turkmenistan also honored us with a meeting, and was informed by us about the progress in the TAPI project, which became possible thanks to his personal intervention," she said. The 1,680-kilometer pipeline project will have a capacity to supply 3.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

TAPI will carry gas from Turkmenistan's Galkynysh region, which contains significant gas reserves, through a pipeline to Herat and Kandahar province in Afghanistan before entering Pakistan. In Pakistan it will reach Multan via Quetta before the final point at Fazilka in Punjab in India.