From: EurasiaDigest (digest@eurasianet.org)
Date: Tue Feb 21 2006 - 09:57:52 EST
INDIA TO JOIN TAP PIPELINE PROJECT
New Delhi has decided to join the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline, the news agency PTI reported on 20 February. The TAP pipeline is a $3.45 billion undertaking designed to transport natural gas from the Dawlatabad field in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then eventually to India (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report," 27 February 2003 and 25 February 2005, and "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 February 2006). India now has three months in which to gain the "necessary official approval" to join TAP, Indian Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told PTI. He added that the pipeline will be renamed TAPI, to stand for Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, once the Indian cabinet approves the decision. Officials in New Delhi have said that a pipeline from Turkmenistan would be less problematic than a planned new pipeline to transport natural gas from Iran, a project that runs the risk of being blacklisted by U.S. and European financers, the report added. While India is not looki
ng at Turkmen gas as an alternative to gas from Iran, New Delhi believes the TAP project has a better chance of being implemented. AT
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