The alternate gas pipeline offer!

The News March 24, 2005
Islamabad, Kabul vow to push gas pipeline

Agree to start Peshawar-Jalalabad,
Quetta-Kandahar bus services; ink five accords

ISLAMABAD: Afghan and Pakistani leaders on Wednesday agreed to do more to push forward a long-delayed natural gas pipeline that will run through gas-rich Turkmenistan to Pakistan and possibly India, an official said.

The 1,680-kilometre Afghan-Turkmen pipeline project has been on hold since the 1990s, when Afghanistan’s Taliban came into power. Since US forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001, the project has been revived and has drawn Washington’s support. Officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan have held meetings in recent months to discuss how to proceed with the plan.

On Wednesday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz agreed to concentrate on the $3.5 billion pipeline because it would benefit the whole region, an official said on condition of anonymity.

The Afghan president said Shaukat told Karzai that Pakistan needed more gas and is interested in more than two pipelines. Pakistan this year has held several rounds of talks with Iran and Qatar on two separate pipelines.

Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday signed five agreements to increase bilateral relations in various fields. These agreements include launching of bus service between Peshawar and Jalalabad, bus service between Quetta and Kandahar, cultural, tourism and media cooperation between the two countries.

Both the countries also signed a protocol to enhance regular consultations between the foreign ministries. The two sides also discussed various other issues of mutual interest and the regional situation. Both sides agreed to increase people-to-people contact and increase trade and economic cooperation and check drug trafficking.

During their 30-minute one-on-one meeting, the two leaders also resolved to cooperate with each other in their war against terrorism. They also discussed matters related to the reconstruction of war-torn Afghanistan.

Talking to the media men after the meeting, the Afghan president noted he held healthy talks with Shaukat, saying Pak-Afghan ties will be further cemented with the passage of time. "Pakistan is my second home and I am not feeling alien here," Karzai said.

Shaukat said Pakistan has always given priority to have good relations with Afghanistan. "The reconstruction of Afghanistan brings peace and prosperity there," the prime minister maintained. Karzai’s meeting with Shaukat came a day after Karzai arrived in Islamabad for talks with his counterpart, Pervez Musharraf. Karzai left Pakistan Wednesday afternoon.