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In Afghanistan, to monitor a pipeline construction project, Turkmenistan’s paramount leader, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, hailed improving bilateral relations with the Taliban government in Kabul, while giving a shout-out to the United States for fostering regional trade. “Relations between the Turkmen and Afghan peoples, which date back to ancient times, are significantly strengthened,” Berdymukhamedov said in an October 20 speech in the western Afghan city of Herat. He insisted that the pipeline project – dubbed TAPI, enabling energy deliveries from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India via Afghanistan – “will have a positive impact on the social and economic development not only of the participating countries, but also of all the states of the region.” The vision for a TAPI pipeline dates to the mid-1990s, a period of relative calm in Afghanistan’s past half-century of conflict and instability. TAPI understandably remained on the drawing board during the decades of turbulence that buffeted Afghanistan following the 9/11 terrorist tragedy. In September of last year, Turkmen and Taliban officials formally relaunched the project. TAPI’s first phase involves laying pipes between Serhetabat in southern Turkmenistan’s Mary Province and the Afghan hub of Herat. A statement issued October 20 by the Taliban government noted that, to date, 14 kilometers of pipeline had been completed inside Afghanistan. Overall, the TAPI route is projected to cross more than 1,800 kilometers of Afghan territory. If completed, the pipeline will have a projected capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas, potentially generating upwards of $1 billion in transit revenue annually for the Taliban government. In concluding his speech in Herat, Berdymukhamedov praised the United States for its support of TAPI, adding that “today, bilateral cooperation covers many areas, in particular, trade, investments, and contacts between business circles.” By Eurasianet More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: India Rejects U.S. Claims of Halving Russian Oil Imports Citi Makes a Case for $50 Oil China’s Battery Giants Flood Overseas Markets As Exports Surge 220%
