Turkmenistan, Afghanistan Pakistan and India are to sign the Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA) of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline in Ashgabat, the Turkmenistan capital, on September 20, an official statement said Friday.
“(Pakistan) federal minister for petroleum and natural resources Syed Naveed Qamar will sign the GPFA of TAP,” said the statement. The signing ceremony will be attended by the ministers for petroleum and natural gas/resources of the four countries. The Pakistan minister left for Ashgabat on Friday. The Tapi gas pipeline project is being planned to bring natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India.
The heads of state of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan have signed the inter-government agreement for a joint oil and gas pipeline. The GPFA was initialed for the induction of India, thus changing the project from TAP to TAPI.
After the signing of the GPFA in Ashgabad next week, the parties are planning to convene rigorous rounds of negotiations to finalise the sales purchase agreement during a proposed TAPI summit in Ashgabat.