The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, is set to meet Monday with Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan, to discuss progress on the multibillion-dollar TAPI gas pipeline project, Afghan officials said.
According to a statement from Baradar’s office, the meeting
will focus on reviewing the implementation of the
Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline inside Afghanistan and
inspecting its operational readiness.
The TAPI project, one of the region’s largest energy
initiatives, aims to transport 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually
from Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh gas field through Afghanistan and Pakistan to
India.
Afghanistan is expected to benefit from the project through
transit revenues, job creation, and the development of energy infrastructure,
in addition to receiving gas supplies for domestic use.
The Taliban government has sought to revive stalled regional
energy and infrastructure projects as part of efforts to boost the country’s
struggling economy and strengthen trade ties with its neighbors.
