ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has sought US help to ensure security for a proposed 1,680 kilometre-long pipeline that will transport natural gas from Central Asia to South Asia through war-ravaged Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s finance ministry said in a statement that it had informed a US delegation led by David Lipton, senior adviser on economy to the US president, of its concerns about the security of the proposed Turkmenistan- Afghanistan- Pakistan- India (Tapi) pipeline, reports The Wall Street Journal.
About 735 kilometres of the pipeline will pass through Afghanistan, including the violent Kandahar province that has high Taliban presence, and 800 kilometres will pass through Pakistan, including its tribal areas, posing a big security challenge to the project.
Turkmenistan, which has the world’s fourth-largest gas reserves, is looking to seal deals with new consumers.
“The road ahead is long for this project, but the benefits could be tremendous and are certainly worthy of the diligence and interest demonstrated by these four countries so far,” Robert Blake, US assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs, had said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2011.
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