Afghanistan, Turkmenistan discuss TAPI project

Kabul, Feb 17 (IANS) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his Turkmenian counterpart, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov have discussed on the phone implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project.

Both the leaders on Thursday also discussed further development of bilateral relations and regional as well as international policy, Tolo News reported.

The construction of the project began in December 2015 and the pipeline is expected to be operational by 2019.

Berdimuhamedov also invited Ghani to visit Turkmenistan.

The total length of the TAPI pipeline would be 1,814 km and its annual capacity is likely to reach 33 billion cubic metres.

A 214-km section of the pipeline will run through Turkmenistan, 774 km through Afghanistan and an 826 km section will run through Pakistan to reach Fazilka town in India’s Punjab province.