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A New 9/11 Occurs in Afghanistan
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Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan begins construction work on TAPI project, a vital energy connectivity corridor between Central Asia and South Asia
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TAPI gas pipeline is 1,814 kilometers
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TAPI project is expected to bring Afghanistan around $450 million dollars
By: Muhammad Arif, Editor NSN.Asia
Islamabad: A new 9/11 occurred on Wednesday, 9/11 2024, in Afghanistan when construction work on the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) project, bringing energy connectivity between Central Asia and South Asia, was inaugurated with senior officials from the Islamic Emirate and Turkmenistan in attendance.
Energy experts claim TAPI project will bring Afghanistan around $450 million dollars, a great achievement for the Afghanistan that had been marred by external wars and tribal conflicts.
The total length of the TAPI gas pipeline is 1,814 kilometers. This pipeline passes through the provinces of Herat, Farah, Nimroz, Helmand, and Kandahar, with 816 kilometers running through Afghanistan.
The commencement of the practical work on the TAPI project would strengthen the relations between the two countries Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, said Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate on Wednesday, September 11, in Herat province while speaking at the inauguration of Afghan Section of the TAPI Gas Pipeline.
The Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate further said: “This demonstrates the good intentions and wise policies of the national leader of Turkmenistan, its President, and other officials who maintain good neighborly relations with neighboring countries, especially Afghanistan.”
Speaking at meeting in Kabul, Noorullah Noori, Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs said at a that the launch of construction of the Afghanistan section of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project will be important in the economic prosperity of Afghanistan and the region.
More than three decades have passed since the planning of the TAPI project, which is one of the important projects for Afghanistan and the regional countries. However, the work on the TAPI project was delayed due to various reasons and geopolitical pressures.
Business and economic experts believe the implementation of the TAPI project will supply Afghanistan’s required gas, and create thousands of job opportunities in various sectors.
Geo-economics experts believe that with the completion of the TAPI project, other development projects, including the 500 kV power transmission to Pakistan, fiber optics, and the establishment of railways, will help Afghanistan to overcome the economic crisis.
Turkmenistan, after its separation from the former Soviet Union in December 1991, began its efforts to transfer gas to South Asia. When the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan came to power in 1996, it launched formal talks with Turkmenistan to implement the TAPI project. However, the practical work on this project did not begin at that time.
For the implementation of TAPI project, the leaders of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India held consultations about TAPI three times in 2015, 2010, and 2018.
Finally, a meeting was hosted in Herat in 2018. Alongside the commencement of the TAPI project, the work on the 500 kV power transmission, railway, and fiber optics projects also began.
Welcoming the TAPI project, Sayed Masoud, an economic analyst, said about the TAPI project: “TAPI is one of Afghanistan’s major regional projects that is entangled in a deadly regional competition; a competition that exists between Pakistan and India, a competition between Turkmenistan and Iran, and a competition among Turkmen, the Emirates, and Qatar.”
According to information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate, the TAPI project will annually transfer 33 billion cubic meters of Turkmenistan’s gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
In addition to meeting Afghanistan’s gas needs, the implementation of the TAPI project will bring Afghanistan around $450 million dollars in transit fees annually and create job opportunities for thousands of people in the maintenance and security sectors.
Afghan business community also lauded the commencement of TAPI project for Afghanistan. Shirbaz Kaminzada, the head of Afghanistan’s Chamber of Industries and Mines in his remarks, said: “TAPI is a massive project, and our areas are agricultural; there are mines here, and we can use cheap energy and gas. One of the major problems in the lack of mining extraction and mechanization of our agriculture is the shortage of energy.”
The TAPI project is not a single project; several allied projects will also be implemented along with this gas pipeline. One of these projects is the 500 kV power transmission project between Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, which transfers Turkmenistan’s electricity to Pakistan through Afghanistan. Afghanistan is expected to earn up to $110 million annually in transit fees from this electricity transmission.
Additionally, fiber optic cables will be laid in the region, connecting neighboring countries. Another project that will be implemented along with the TAPI gas pipeline is the railway, which will connect Pakistan and Turkmenistan through Afghanistan.
Mohammad Karim Azimi, another economic analyst, said: “Along with the TAPI project, the TAP project and the construction of the railway, which are its supplementary projects, are very important.”
The TAPI project, estimated to cost $10 billion, passes through Afghanistan along the Herat-Kandahar highway and then through Quetta and Multan in Pakistan, reaching the city of Fazilka in India.
The opening of a big project will play great role in improving the security of the region and bring economic benefits for the people of Afghanistan.
Reflecting optimism about TAPI project for Afghanistan, editor in chief of PNP, Qazi Sabahuddin told NSN.Asia “I hope that the economic situation of Afghanistan and the Afghan nation will improve day by day and we will witness a prosperous, dignified and victorious Afghanistan”.
“TAPI project is politically and economically important for the people of Afghanistan. Particularly, it is important for the industries relying on gas—and it also could benefit the production of energy in the country torn by the war, he added.
The TAPI project is a major connectivity project that will eventually earn Afghanistan millions of dollars a year.
The successful commencement of TAPI project in Afghanistan after delays and difficulties shows the strategic commitment of Afghan government for the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline initiative, a vital energy connectivity corridor between South Asia and Central Asia.
