Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry reports that on 12 March, 2019 the delegations of Turkmenistan and Pakistan held negotiations in Islamabad to discuss the construction of the TAPI pipeline, power lines and fiber-optic communications along Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan route.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed strong support for the TAPI project, the construction of the TAP transmission line, and the launch of a new transportation and transit corridor from the seaports of Pakistan to the international seaport of Turkmenbashi, according to the announcement.
As a result of the meeting, the sides inked Host Government Agreement (HGA) on the Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline network, the terms and conditions of which are not disclosed.
HGA is an agreement between a foreign investor and a local or host government governing the rights and obligations of the foreign investor and the host government with respect to the development, construction, and operation of a project by the foreign investor.
Let us recall that in December 2018 Chairperson of TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd Mukhammetmyrat Amanov asked Pakistan’s Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Ghulam Sarwar Khan to have an inaugural ceremony for the Pakistan section of the gas pipeline in March 2019 in Pakistan and launch the construction works in 2019.
In August 2018 the newly-elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan cast doubt on the prospects of the TAPI project and announced the intention to build a gas pipeline from Iran.