KABUL - A long-delayed four nation’s gas pipeline project is seen as an essential element of economic cooperation between and Turkmenistan.
The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline is a purely economic project, Turkmenistan's Ambassador to India Parakhat Durdyev said on Monday.
Sputnik, a Russian news outlet, quoted the diplomat as saying: "Our idea is to make India even closer to us connected through the pipeline which is a vital ingredient of the economic cooperation."
Conceived in the 1990s, the project has been delayed repeatedly due to conflict and political insecurity in the region. In 2015, the ground-breaking ceremony for it was finally held in Turkmenistan.

The 1,800 kilometers pipeline, accounting for billions of dollars, will carry natural gas from Caspian Sea deposits in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan into India. (Pajhwok)