ASHGABAT (TCA) — Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov paid an official visit to Pakistan on March 16 and 17 and held talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on bilateral cooperation in energy, transportation and communication spheres.
The talks put an emphasis on the importance of construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, creation of international transport and communication corridors, and development of a multi-modal transport system in the region, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reported.
The visit included a presentation of promising projects aimed at creating a transport and communication network between Pakistan and Central Asian countries, in which Turkmenistan would play an important role due to its convenient geographical location and the country’s efforts in building logistics hubs for transit and transportation of goods for the entire Eurasian continent.
The sides considered new rail and motor roads that will give Turkmenistan, and other Central Asian countries, access to Pakistani ports on the Indian Ocean coast. This will create new trade routes between Central Asia, Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
For this purpose the Pakistani side is planning four routes that will connect Pakistan’s Karachi and Gwadar ports to Central Asian countries. Two of the proposed routes will be ground routes connecting Pakistan and Turkmenistan.
Of special interest are projects to build a high-speed highway and, in the future, a railway along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.
