Pakistan is committed to the timely completion of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) electricity transmission projects. This was stated by the Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan Raja Pervez Ashraf during a meeting with the Ambassador of Turkmenistan in Islamabad Atajan Movlamov.
The head of the lower house of the Parliament of Pakistan welcomed the productive meetings of the technical delegation headed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik during his visit to Turkmenistan in September 2022.
Discussing the issues of trade and investment cooperation, the speaker stressed the need to expand bilateral trade. In this regard, he invited Turkmenistan to take advantage of the opportunities of Pakistan’s seaports Gwadar, Ben Qasim and Karachi, which open the access for trade relations with the Middle East, Africa and beyond the region.
In the regional context, Pervez told about Pakistan’s vision of establishing sustainable and results-oriented engagement with the countries of Central Asia within the framework of the “Vision of Central Asia” policy, which focuses on five key areas: political, trade and investment, energy and connectivity, security and defense, and people-to-people exchanges.
In turn, the Ambassador of Turkmenistan expressed his satisfaction with the current state of bilateral relations between the two countries and expressed willingness to further strengthen political, economic and cultural ties. ///nCa, 9 February 2023