The resolution adopted unanimously by the 15-member UN Security Council on Friday extended the mandate of UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) until March 17, 2018, stressing the political mission's role in supporting an inclusive Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.
It welcomed current efforts to strengthen regional connectivity and economic cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbors, citing the example of the Turkmenistan- Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project and the Chabahar port project between Afghanistan, India and Iran.
The resolution also called for strengthening "regional development projects, such as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, the Central Asia South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (CASA-1000), the Chabahar port project, agreed between Afghanistan, India and the Islamic Republic of Iran."
The TAPI project, which has a preliminary cost estimate of USD 10 billion, aims to export up to 33 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year through a proposed approximately 1,800-kilometer (km) pipeline from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
The Silk Road Economic Belt project, a pet initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping, is an overland route running through Central Asia, while the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road will traverse the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. Both are interconnected infrastructure networks being spearheaded by China in its attempt to play a much larger regional role and better connect its economy with those in the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
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