ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi and Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Meredov Rashid Ovezgeldiyevich proposed to establish a committee under the Joint Working Group to expedite the process of early completion of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) pipeline project.

Both the leaders made this proposal, while discussing the TAPI pipeline project in a meeting at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Monday.

The president said that Pakistan is committed to early completion of the TAPI pipeline project.

Talking to the Turkmen foreign minister, the president highlighted the importance of regional connectivity and economic integration, saying that both the countries should join efforts to boost regional connectivity.

The meeting proposed to establish a committee under the Joint Working Group to expedite the process of early completion of TAPI pipeline.

The president congratulated the visiting dignitary on successful holding of the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC.

He expressed the hope that the Extraordinary Session of the OIC countries would succeed in getting the international support to address the growing crisis in Afghanistan.

He urged the international community to realise the gravity of situation in Afghanistan and support it in this hour of need.

He underlined that Afghanistan should not be further squeezed and the blocked money needed to be released to counter the worsening economic and humanitarian crisis.

The president said that Pakistan attaches utmost significance to its ties with Turkmenistan as the two countries enjoy excellent relations in various fields, besides having unanimity of views on major international and regional fora including the UN, the ECO, and the SCO.

The president recalled his recent visit to Turkmenistan and said that he held very fruitful meetings with the Turkmen president and both sides emphasised the need for early completion of TAPI Gas pipeline project.

The Turkmen foreign minister conveyed to the president the warmest wishes from President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. He added that the visit of President Dr Arif Alvi to Turkmenistan was a great support for them, which would further boost bilateral cooperation between the two brotherly countries.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021