India, Pak, others to sign USD 7 billion pipeline deal

Geneva, Oct 18 (PTI) India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and
Turkmenistan will sign an agreement in December to build a
1,800 km long trans-border gas pipeline estimated to cost USD
7 billion.
"A MoU was signed recently between the four countries-
India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan- and it will be
operationalised by their leaders when they meet in December,"
Eklil Ahmad Hakimi, deputy foreign minister of Afghanistan,
told reporters Monday.
The proposed project will supply gas from the
resource-rich Central Asia to energy-starved South Asia.
"This is a huge project involving energy cooperation
between Central Asia and South Asia," the Afghan minister
said, suggesting that the 1800 km underground pipeline will
create employment for 20,000 people in his country now facing
enormous security threats.
Hakimi, who is participating in an international
meeting on regional cooperation in Central Asia, including
sustainable development of Afghanistan.
He also mentioned about peace talks that are
currently underway in Rome today, saying terrorism is not
originating from Afghanistan.
The Rome peace talks which are convened by the Italian
government amid escalating armed conflict in Afghanistan will
focus on progress made on 'returning to Afghans control of
their territory and finalise political strategies that will
guarantee stability,'
The US special representative for Afghanistan Richard
Holbrooke and General David Petraeus and the Afghan Foreign
Minister Zalmai Rassoul are talking part in these talks.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe along with ESCAP has convened a two-day meeting on how
to speed-up regional cooperation in Central Asia, particularly
in generating economic development in Afghanistan.
"Whereas little can be achieved without a minimum
level of security, any progress made on the security front
would be short-lived without being buttressed by a development
effort to allow Afghanistan to build a sustainable future,"
said Andrey Vasilyev, UNECE deputy executive secretary.
In a background paper prepared for the meeting, the
UNECE maintained that without neglecting the decisive
importance of the security dimension, it is imperative to
focus on the "civilian development effort".
Countries in Central America are land-locked pursuing
divergent paths of economic development are facing a huge
security challenge.
"Threats to Central Asia from Afghanistan have a
regional dimension," said the UN official, suggesting that
instability from Afghanistan spills over into bordering
countries such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmensitan.