Indian Vice President to Attend TAPI Inauguration Ceremony

Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari will likely attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the $10 billion TAPI gas pipeline project.

Construction of much delayed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline is finally expected to commence on Dec. 13.

Turkmengaz, which was named project consortium leader for TAPI project in August, will kick off the construction of the gas pipeline. High level Afghan government officials including, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani who was invited by his counterpart President Berdymuhamedov, will also expected to attend the ceremony.

TAPI gas pipeline will export up to 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India over 30 years. 

According to Indo Asian News Service (IANS) Ansari would be meeting Pakistani Prime MInister Nawaz Sharif as well as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani during the ceremony at Mari.

India became a formal member of the project in 2008. All the four participating countries worked out an intergovernmental agreement in 2010, while the gas sales and purchase agreement was worked out in 2012. The TAPI steering committee has held 23 meetings so far, with the last one held in Ashgabat in October.

Ansari would also hold talks with Turkish President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, IANS reported.