- Moscow (IANS) - The talk of constructing
a gas pipeline from landlocked Turkmenistan to India, expected to pass
through Afghanistan, has revived in the wake of the collapse of the Taliban
regime in Kabul.
- A consortium comprising Japanese and
U.S. firms was working on a project that would link Turkmenistan's gas
fields with India through neighbouring Afghanistan and Pakistan.
- But nothing came of it because of instability
in Afghanistan under the Taliban militia.
- The emergence of a new government in
Afghanistan that is friendly with its neighbours has heightened prospects
of building gas pipelines in South Asia, one of the world's largest energy
markets in the future.
- While Russia and Iran are keen that the
Turkmen pipeline should pass through their territory, the U.S. wants the
pipeline to reach India via Afghanistan and Pakistan.
- A pipeline through Afghanistan to South
Asia would ensure huge profits as India is the world's fastest growing
energy market and it would serve Washington's geopolitical interests by
keeping Russia and Iran, considered U.S. rivals, out of the region.
- Elizabeth Jones, the U.S. assistant secretary
in charge of European and Eurasian affairs, said during a recent visit
to Turkmenistan that Washington would support any commercially viable gas
pipeline from Turkmenistan to South Asia.
- Assessing the viability of a gas pipeline
connecting Turkmenistan with South Asia through Afghanistan, she said the
project appeared quite lucrative, given the huge market in India, whose
energy requirements are growing at a rate of seven percent annually.
- She, however, made it clear that no U.S.
government investment could be expected.
- "But this does not mean the U.S.
would not encourage private investment in this project," she stressed.
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