Turkmenistan and Afghanistan have signed an agreement on construction of the Trans and Afghanistan gas pipeline for the transfer of Turkmen gas to Pakistan and India.

The TAPI project, first put forward in 1995 was promoted by the country's late leader, Mr Saparmurat Niyazov in the early 2000s. It secured strong support from Washington after US led offensive ended the Taliban's 5 year rule over Afghanistan in 2001.

The Turkmen delegation is expected to visit Pakistan and India to sign agreements with the 2 countries in the near future.

Local media said earlier that Mr Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov president of Turkmenistan and his Afghan counterpart Mr Hamid Karzai have agreed to discuss the project at the 65th United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.

(Sourced from Rian)