India today signed an agreement to import natural gas from Turkmenistan through an ADB-funded $7.6-billion gas pipeline passing through Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Oil Minister Murli Deora signed the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) and the Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline here.
“Today is a very important day, not just for India, but for all the countries (in the TAPI project),” he said at the signing ceremony attended by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. The agreements are commitments of the four nations to building the project even as New Delhi voiced concerns over safe delivery of gas through the pipeline that would pass the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar and then into Pakistan’s restive tribal areas.
“There are issues that need to be addressed. We have to come to decisions regarding the price of gas, security of the pipeline, certainty of the gas supply, transit fee and setting up of the consortium (to build the pipeline),” Deora said.
The rival Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline has been on drawing boards for more than a decade mostly because of security concerns over passage of gas through Pakistan.
“Quite obviously, our goal is not merely the construction of the pipeline, but also continuous and uninterrupted flow of Turkmen natural gas over several decades,” he said. The IGA signed today “offers guarantee for the security and safety of the pipeline as also of the personnel involved in the project.”
“We take this guarantee as a solemn promise from the government of Afghanistan and Pakistan and this gives us the confidence to go ahead with the project,” said Deora.