Work on TAPI pipeline project may resume in spring

Kabul: Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that the negotiations over technical issues of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project will resume in the spring.

"We hope to immediately reach an exact date on the restart of the TAPI pipeline project in the spring. We hope the work on other projects including TAPI will be resumed soon too," TOLOnews quoted Shafi Azam, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying. The economists say that the implementation of the TAPI project will provide job opportunities for Afghan citizens.

"I consider the resumption of this project at such a critical time a positive step because when this project is resumed, the people will be provided with both gas and job opportunities," TOLOnews quoted Ahmad Muneeb Rasa, an economist as saying.

However, many reports were published about the resumption of TAPI projects in Afghanistan, but the project has yet to begin.

"The accomplishment of the major economic projects in the country is in the hands of the regional countries such as India and Pakistan. As long as the interests of the two countries are not ensured, the implementation of this project will be just a possibility," TOLOnews quoted Shakir Yaqob, an economist as saying.

Moreover, the Asian Development Bank had said that unless the Islamic Emirate is recognized, it will not help implement the TAPI project.

According to an Afghanistan-based radio and television network, the bank had suspended all of its activities related to the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India project since August last year when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.