Editorial: Security a major obstacle to gas pipeline project

The proposed gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan is a live issue for the countries involved. Gas-producing countries are striving to reach the Indian market, the second largest gas consumer in the world after the United States. Tripartite negotiations have been under way between Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan to build a gas pipeline to Pakistan and India. Separate discussions are taking place on a different project which would see a gas pipeline built from the Mediterranean to Pakistan. However, foreign investors are reluctant to get involved in this project: Iran wants the pipeline to cross through its territory on its way to Pakistan and India. A senior official in the Asian Development Bank, Dan Mison, told a gathering in Washington that the bank was assessing the situation in Afghanistan as well as looking at Pakistan’s markets so as to gauge whether investment in the Turkmen-Afghan-Pakistani project could be guaranteed. According to Mison, the project will cost three billion US dollars. Technically, the project was feasible, he said. The first task is to assess whether Turkmenistan is actually able to supply sufficient amounts of gas.