Turkmenistan: Electricity Deal with Pakistan Proposed in Islamabad

A flurry of diplomatic meetings in both Ashgabat and Islamabad indicates that Turkmenistan is inching ever closer to becoming a major supplier of Pakistan's energy needs.

Pakistan's Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, has asked Turkmenistan's ambassador to Islamabad, Sapar Berdiniyazo, to export electricity via Iran, The News reported on June 10. Berdiniyazo assured the minister that Turkmenistan has a "surplus of electricity," the report added.

Separately, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov met on June 9 with outgoing Pakistani ambassador to Turkmenistan Said Akbar Afridi, who had served in Ashgabat since 2006.