Afghanistan set to begin work on TAPI pipeline

TAPI pipeline progress in Afghanistan celebrated, despite delays, security concerns, and potential future financing issues.

Afghanistan said Wednesday (September 11, 2024) work would begin on a $10 billion gas pipeline traversing South Asia as officials joined dignitaries in neighbouring Turkmenistan to celebrate its completion on that side of the border.

Progress on the TAPI pipeline — running through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India — has been repeatedly delayed because of security issues in conflict-ravaged Afghanistan.

"From today the operations will start on Afghanistan's soil," Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at the ceremony in comments broadcast by Afghan State television.

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At the border ceremony in Islim Cheshma in Turkmenistan, officials on both sides, including Afghan Prime Minister Hassan Akhund, hailed the project.

"This project will benefit not only the economies of the countries participating but also the countries of the whole region," Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedow said in a video broadcast live at the ceremony.

In the Afghan border province of Herat, a public holiday was declared to mark the occasion, with posters celebrating the project plastered around the capital of the same name.