Hira Irfan
After being called a pipe dream for decades, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline came one step closer to reality. The ground breaking ceremony, which was held in Mary in the southeastern part of Turkmenistan, was attended by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, and Indian Vice President Muhammad Hamid Ansari. Some moments truly are historic and this was one of them. This huge project should be completed by 2019, a date which may be optimistic but has implications far beyond the supply of gas. TAPI gas pipeline project was the largest yet project in the world. It is one of the achievements of the PML-N government that a project halted for 25 years is being taken up with the commitment of the Turkmenistan government to make such a huge investment.Nearly 200 kilometers of the pipeline will pass through the territory of Turkmenistan, 735 kilometers through Afghanistan, 800 kilometers through Pakistan and will reach Fazilka in India. The pipeline will export up to 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India over 30 years. Therefore, the volume of gas to be made available to Pakistan is enough to plunge just under a quarter of our total current natural gas shortfall.
Recently, Federal Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi revealed that Bangladesh has also expressed its willingness to join the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project. All partners were eager to initiate the project, but faced serious challenges and now Turkmenistan has taken the decision to become the lead financier. The TAPI gas pipeline worth $10 billion project would not only create substantial job opportunities but also help in the economic prosperity of the member countries. Turkmenistan is dependent on China for the vast majority of its gas sales. TAPI is a key opportunity to expand its exports. Moreover, this mega project is supposed to transfer resources from CARs to Afghanistan, Pakistan and all the way to India. Its successful and timely completion will benefit all shareholders alike. The major difficulty in completion of the project is instability in Afghanistan. The peace and prosperity always go hand in glove with each other. Hence, stable Afghanistan is a must for implementation of agreements under TAPI gas pipeline project.
The TAPI project is a helpful development to strength economy of Pakistan. This is a good time as, after the groundbreaking of TAPI gas pipeline, Pakistan and Turkmenistan are now negotiating for a second project, which would pass through the Afghanistan-Iran border to connect with the Gwadar port. Balochistan, long marred by insurgency and political unrest, could now potentially see a massive increase in employment. At the juncture, the gas pipeline is one of many promising fruits of Pakistan-India-Afghanistan cooperation with central Asia. It is a discovery in the energy history of Pakistan. In the coming decade or so, Pakistan will need massive energy resources and TAPI along with couple of other projects can be helpful to meet deficit in energy. It is positive sign that government has started taking in time care of TAPI like projects.
Undoubtedly, TAPI is the key pillar of economic engagement between four nations. It is high time for Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India to take sincere and bold steps to mitigate their mistrust and address each other’s concerns in order to exploit their vast resources through increased connectivity and cooperation for the benefit of their people. It provides reasonable economic opportunities to Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. It may transform India-Pakistan relations by enhancing interdependence in the energy sector and the economic field. While remembering our title TAPI will mean a brighter future for all and we hope this project will complete soon.
