Question: Where did the meeting of TAPI Gas pipeline take place recently?
(a) Afghanistan
(b) India
(c) Pakistan
(d) Turkmenistan
Answer: (d)
Related facts:
- A delegation led by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum, Nadeem Babar attended a meeting on May 19,2019 on the development of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, also known as Trans-Afghanistan pipeline in Turkmenistan.
- Groundbreaking of the TAPI gas pipeline will be held in Pakistan in October this year.
- The Pakistani delegation is travelling to Turkmenistan to finalise the plans for the groundbreaking of the project.
TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) Gas Pipeline:
- The TAPI gas pipeline project is expected to be completed by 2022 in Pakistan.
- It is supported by the United States and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and also by Turkmenistan since the 1990s. But the initiation of the project was delayed due to issues related to the instability in the region, especially in Afghanistan.
- The ADB is acting as the facilitator and coordinator for the project.
- It is proposed to lay a 56-inch diameter and 1,680-kilometre pipeline with a capacity of transporting 33 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas per annum from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Fazilka near the India-Pakistan border.
- The pipeline will run through areas of southern Afghanistan largely controlled by the Taliban.
- Kabul has assured that no hindrance will be caused to the project. This project will benefit Afghanistan with five billion cubic meters of the gas itself, while the rest would be divided between India and Pakistan.