Daily Times, August 16, 2006
US envoy pushes Turkmenistan to Pakistan gasline
ASHGABAT: Washington is pushing for a new gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan, and ‘strongly opposes’ a rival pipeline from Iran, US diplomat Steven Mann said on Tuesday after a two-hour meeting with Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov.
Niyazov and Mann met to discuss various possible gas pipeline projects from the gas-rich Central Asian state to China and across the Caspian Sea, and through Afghanistan to energy-hungry Pakistan and India.
“The demand is there, but the next step is to look for private sector partners to develop this line,” said Mann, the US State Department principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asian affairs.
Niyazov said after his meeting with Mann that the Turkmenistan supported “the policy of creating a diverse pipeline system”, the news agency reported.
The project to build a pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan came a step closer to realisation recently, with the completion of a feasibility study sponsored by the Asian Development Bank, but remains in doubt because of ongoing instability along the line’s route, especially in Afghanistan. afp
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