Construction of Afghan section of Turkmenistan-to-India pipeline starts

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Top officials of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan have witnessed the start of construction of the Afghanistan section of the pipeline that will supply Afghanistan, Pakistan and India with natural gas from Turkmenistan’s vast reserves. The Afghanistan section was to have been completed in 2018, but construction was repeatedly postponed because of security concerns. Only the Turkmenistan section has been finished. The Wednesday ceremony to weld the first joint of the 100-kilometer (62-mile) pipeline section from Turkmenistan to the Afghan city of Herat was observed by Afghan Prime Minister Hassan Akhund, Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdymukhamediv and his father and predecessor Gurbanguly. The pipeline will eventually supply 33 billion cubic meters of gas a year.