Turkmenistan pipeline gets green light

Federal cabinet approves framework agreement for Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project.

LAHORE: The federal cabinet on Wednesday accorded approval to the framework agreement for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project.

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said this at a media briefing after the cabinet meeting held at the Governor House Lahore.

He said this international gas pipeline project was in the best interest of Pakistan, asserting that the project would continue among the three countries even if India chooses not to sign the deal.

Kaira said the cabinet also gave its nod to the draft MoU on cooperation between Naif Arab University For Security Sciences (NAUSS), Saudi Arabia, and National Defence University (NDU), Pakistan, and the draft  of the Land Surveying and Mapping Bill 2010 and referred them to the Law and Justice Division for vetting.

The cabinet, he added, also referred the draft bill for regulating Hajj, Umra and Ziarat to a cabinet committee.

At present, tourism laws do not cover the specific problems of people who travel abroad to perform religious rituals. The cabinet noted that there are certain areas in which the tour operators and travel agents mislead the pilgrims for which there are no legal remedies.

The federal cabinet also decided to take the parliament into confidence while approving the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani chaired the meeting which reviewed rehabilitation of flood victims and other important issues.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi updated the cabinet colleagues on the dialogue with the US and said it would translate into bilateral cooperation in 13 pre-identified sectors.

During the structured dialogue, the US was told about the impact of flood disaster on various sectors. The US delegation promised five-year economic assistance package of $1.5 billion per annum under the Kerry-Lugar law for the country’s socio-economic development.

Kaira, while commenting on Transparency International’s report placing the country low on its corruption perceptions index, said that the law department had been told to give legal notice to the organisation.

He said now food security, agriculture, industry, energy, public diplomacy and IT sectors had also been incorporated in the strategic dialogue with the US.

He said the steering committee headed by Pakistan’s foreign secretary and US special envoy Richard Hoolbrooke would follow up on decisions of the dialogue, while a ‘Vision Paper’ covering all 13 sectors and the mechanism had been prepared to monitor the progress.

US President Barack Obama also met Pakistani delegation and expressed strong support for democracy in Pakistan. He made a commitment to visit Pakistan next year and also invited President Asif Zardari to visit his country, the minister said.

He said the cabinet deliberated upon the forthcoming Pakistan Development Fund (PDF) meeting to be held on November 14 and 15. Pakistan would present its future economic development vision before the forum and prospective donor countries.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2010.