CA-NEWS (TM) - Turkmenistan and Afghanistan have signed an agreement on construction of the Trans-Afghanistan (TAPI) gas pipeline for the transfer of Turkmen gas to Pakistan and India, state news agency TDH said today. The TAPI project, first put forward in 1995, was promoted by the country's late leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, in the early 2000s. It secured strong support from Washington after a U.S.-led offensive ended the Taliban's five-year rule over Afghanistan in 2001. The Turkmen delegation is expected to visit Pakistan and India to sign agreements with the two countries in the near future. Local media said earlier that Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai have agreed to discuss the project at the 65th United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.
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