Kabul and Ashgabat celebrated on Wednesday with great pomp the completion of the TAPI gas pipeline — Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India — on the Turkmen side and its launch on Afghan territory.
This mega project, worth at least $10 billion, is to transport 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year over more than 1,800 km, extracted from Galkynysh in southeastern Turkmenistan, one of the largest fields in the world and the largest in terms of reserves. Conceived in the 1990s, it was long delayed by deadly conflicts in Afghanistan, regional insecurity and tensions between partner countries.
The pipeline, of which some 800 km (40% of its length) will be in Afghanistan, is to cross the Afghan cities of Herat (west) and Kandahar (south), then Quetta in the southwest of Pakistan, before ending in the Indian city of Fazilka, in Punjab.
“This project will benefit not only the economies of the participating countries, but also the countries of the entire region,” Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedow said live on video at the ceremony, which was attended by Afghanistan’s Prime Minister Hassan Akhund. For the Taliban government, which has been back in power for three years, this project is by far the most important to date.
The western border province of Herat, where the work is beginning, declared Wednesday a public holiday to mark the event. The eponymous capital was decked out with large posters celebrating TAPI.
A strategic role
The pipeline is intended to enable Afghanistan, whose government is not officially recognized by any country, to play an important role as a bridge between Central and South Asia, while participating in regional cooperation. Pakistan and India, which have large energy needs, are each to receive 42% of the gas deliveries, and Afghanistan 16%. Kabul is to receive lucrative transit rights of some $500 million per year, according to the Afghan press.
Work on the Turkmen side began in 2015 and was originally scheduled to begin on the Afghan side in 2018. According to experts, the commissioning of TAPI, which is not yet fully funded, is not expected until the next decade.
Afghanistan, although still under punishing Western economic and financial sanctions, is currently trying to relaunch ambitious projects in energy, mining and infrastructure in particular, which had been paralyzed by the wars.
