The acting Taliban defence minister in the interim Afghanistan administration, Mullah Muhammad Yaqub, said he has taken direct charge of security for the multi-billion dollar TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India) gas pipeline project.
Yaqub, the son of the Taliban's founding leader, Mullah Omar, made the comment following a meeting with Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, who arrived in Kabul in the morning for talks on the project and bilateral relations with Afghanistan.
“I am directly responsible for and overseeing the security of the TAPI project. We will not hesitate to make any sacrifices for the implementation of this national project,” Yaqoob tweeted after meeting with Turkmenistan’s top diplomat at the presidential palace in the capital.
“During the meeting, both sides discussed bolstering relations, economic, trade, security, and humanitarian assistance,” said Zabihullah Mujahed, the Taliban spokesperson and deputy minister for information and culture.
The mega project, which connects energy-rich Central Asia with energy-starved South Asia via Afghanistan, was envisioned in the 1990s and practical work on it began in 2015.
In line with this $10 billion project, up to 33 billion cubic meters of gas would be carried from the Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan to the town of Fazilka in Indian Punjab via the 1,814-kilometer pipeline passing through Afghanistan and Pakistan.
