OREANDA-NEWS. The interim government formed by the radical Islamist Taliban movement in Afghanistan has assured Turkmenistan that it will ensure the completion and safety of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, which Ashgabat is building in the hope of entering new markets. The message about this was published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan on Monday, November 1, in Ashgabat, Reuters reports.

Geopolitical risks and security threats are of key importance in the implementation of the project related to the construction of a $10 billion gas pipeline, a significant part of which will pass through the unstable regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, however, the new government in Kabul stated that it remains committed to this project, the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan notes.

Last weekend, a Turkmen government delegation visited Afghanistan to discuss, among other issues, the fate of TAPI, and the Afghan side expressed it's readiness to cooperate in the implementation of bilateral projects, the Turkmen side said in a statement.

«We want to launch national projects between the two countries as soon as possible, because all the necessary conditions have been created for their implementation, including security», said Abdul Salama Hanafi, deputy head of the interim government of Afghanistan.

«We will spare no effort to ensure the security of infrastructure and economic projects between the two countries», said another official, Defense Minister in the Taliban interim government, Muhammad Yaqub.

Turkmenistan has already built it's own section of the pipeline, designed to supply 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year and making the former Soviet Republic less dependent on the Chinese market, where the bulk of it's exports are currently directed. Meanwhile, it remains unclear when the remaining part of the pipeline will be built.