Pak Ready To Enlist Taliban for TAPI Security, If Haqqanis In Charge

[SEE:  Inauguration of TAPI project : PM to visit Turkmenistan today; Pakistan is giving Taliban leadership to Haqqanis: India’s Ambassador to Kabul ]

Pakistan may talk to Afghan Taliban for TAPI’s security: Khwaja Asif

Last Updated On 12 December,2015 11:39 am TAPI gas pipelines project is very important for all stakeholders, Khwaja Asif said. ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Defense Minister Khwaja Mohammad Asif has said that Pakistan would use its influence on Afghan Taliban for the security of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the BBC Urdu reported on Friday. During his interview, the minister said that TAPI project is very important for all stakeholders especially in reducing the energy crisis in Pakistan. “Therefore, we would try our best to have this project completed on time,” he said. While responding the question as if Pakistan would use its influence on Afghan militant groups, especially the Taliban, for the security of TAPI pipeline project, he said: “Of course, we would use it. For our interests, we would take any positive step.” The construction work on TAPI gas pipeline is scheduled to begin on December 13. Earlier today, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, to participate in the inauguration ceremony of the project which would be attended by Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ALSO READ: PM arrives in Turkmenistan to attend inauguration of TAPI gas project The $10 billion project, as the proposed 1,735-kilometer (1,140-mile) pipeline is known, is intended to carry 33 billion cubic meters of gas annually through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar and end up in the India-Pakistan border town of Fazilka. The construction of the pipeline is expected to complete by the end of December 2018 and will last for 30 years. The pipeline will run more than 700 km across Afghanistan on its way to Pakistan and India which would be filled with gas from Turkmenistan‘s mammoth Galkynysh field, the world‘s second-largest reservoir of natural gas.\r\n

ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Defense Minister Khwaja Mohammad Asif has said that Pakistan would use its influence on Afghan Taliban for the security of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the BBC Urdu reported on Friday. During his interview, the minister said that TAPI project is very important for all stakeholders especially in reducing the energy crisis in Pakistan. “Therefore, we would try our best to have this project completed on time,” he said. While responding the question as if Pakistan would use its influence on Afghan militant groups, especially the Taliban, for the security of TAPI pipeline project, he said: “Of course, we would use it. For our interests, we would take any positive step.” The construction work on TAPI gas pipeline is scheduled to begin on December 13. Earlier today, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, to participate in the inauguration ceremony of the project which would be attended by Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ALSO READ: PM arrives in Turkmenistan to attend inauguration of TAPI gas project The $10 billion project, as the proposed 1,735-kilometer (1,140-mile) pipeline is known, is intended to carry 33 billion cubic meters of gas annually through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar and end up in the India-Pakistan border town of Fazilka. The construction of the pipeline is expected to complete by the end of December 2018 and will last for 30 years. The pipeline will run more than 700 km across Afghanistan on its way to Pakistan and India which would be filled with gas from Turkmenistan‘s mammoth Galkynysh field, the world‘s second-largest reservoir of natural gas.\r\n