Taliban delegation heads for Turkmenistan for trade, energy, TAPI talks

A Taliban delegation has departed for Turkmenistan for talks on trade, energy and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline (TAPI) gas pipeline, reported Sputnik.

A Taliban delegation has departed for Turkmenistan for talks on trade, energy and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline (TAPI) gas pipeline, reported Sputnik. The Taliban delegation is headed by Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

"The delegation flew to Ashgabat at the invitation of Turkmenistan to hold talks with Turkmen officials on bilateral trade, energy, railway, the TAPI project and scholarships," reported Sputnik citing a source in the foreign ministry as saying. The TAPI project was expected to be inaugurated in 2020 but the construction of the project has remained unfinished so far despite the promises of funding by the Asian Development Bank, according to TOLOnews.

The TAPI project, which has an estimated price tag of USD 10 billion in 2018 endeavours to bring 33 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas to energy-starved South Asia for 30 years via a 1,800-kilometer pipeline that will stretch across Afghanistan. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)