Afghan peace and regional prosperity

The Acting Afghan Mines and Petroleum Minister told the CEO of the TAPI project on Saturday that the Islamic Emirate will ensure the security of the TAPI project within its country’s territorial jurisdiction. According to details, Afghan Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Shahabuddin Delawar had informed Murad Amanov, the CEO of Tapi Gas Pipeline Company about the commitment of the Islamic Emirate toward a transnational energy project. During the meeting, the CEO told the Afghan authorities about the importance of the continuation of cooperation between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan and added that his country is interested in enhancing regional trade and cooperation beyond the construction of the gas pipeline in other sectors including electricity, railway, optical fibre and other mutually beneficial projects for Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and other nations in the region.

The famous Turkeminstan-Afghanistan-Pakistan and India gas pipeline is one of the largest gas transmission projects in the region, which provides equal energy and monetary benefits to all participating nations. The 1814 km long trans-country natural gas pipeline project was planned to transport over 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Turkeminstation to other participating nations. The project agreement was signed by the Quad-nations in 2010 and was scheduled to become operational in 2021. However, the construction work on the project could not be completed as per plan mainly due deteriorating law and order situation in Afghanistan. According to experts, the multilateral project can transform Afghanistan into an energy and trade corridor between Central and South Asia however the persistent deteriorating security situation has severely dented this promising project in the past.

The war in Afghanistan has not only put worst effects on the afghan economy and people of Afghanistan but also hindered regional connectivity, trade and commerce by halting transportation of energy, cargo and tourism between Central Asia and South Asia egions over the past four decades. The government of Pakistan is a strong advocate of peace in Afghanistan so the entire region can benefit from each other resources, technological advancements, transport infrastructure and professional skills to provide a prosperous future to their people in the days to come.