KABUL - Kabul, Islamabad, Dushanbe and Bishkek have agreed in principle on a power purchase accord on electricity supply from Central Asia to South Asia (CASA), a report said on Wednesday.

Pakistan will add 1000 megawatts of electricity to its national grid to meet its growing energy needs, the news agency Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

Afghanistan would also benefit from the deal known as CASA-1000 -- both as consumer and transit country from transmission of electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, it added.

“The meeting will prove to be a milestone in concluding the project that is expected to be materialized in 2018,” the Pakistani embassy in Washington said.

An inter-governmental council of Central Asia and South Asia meeting was organized by the World Bank, which is supporting the project. Islamic Development Bank and USAID are also assisting the scheme.

The parties also discussed the master agreement and at the same time initiated negotiations on electricity pricing. (Pajhwok)