PM attends first leg of TAPI's link-up groundbreaking ceremony in Serhatabad

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday attended the link-up ground-breaking ceremonies of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project and laying of power transmission lines and fibre optic, here at the Serhatabad city of Turkmenistan.

This was the first leg of the ground-breaking ceremony, which was also attended by Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani and India’s Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar, according to information received here.

An Agreement on Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power line was also signed on the occasion.

A Pakistani cultural troupe performed at the occasion along with their counterparts from partner TAPI countries.

The prime minister also attended a special handicrafts exhibition in the city along with heads of other member countries representing arts, culture of the four states followed by the inaugural ceremony.

Prime Minister Abbasi later proceeded to Herat, Afghanistan where he attended the second leg of the ground-breaking ceremony.

The ambitious natural gas pipeline project entered its practical phase in Pakistan after the process of initiating front-end-engineering-and-design (FEED) route survey was formally inaugurated last year.