Turkmenistan president due in Islamabad on 16th

ISLAMABAD: President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Malikgulyyewic Berdimuhamedow will be undertaking Pakistan’s two-day official visit from Wednesday (March 16) on the invitation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The prime minister visited Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat in December last year to ink Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline agreement and extended the invitation to the host president for the visit. He will be received by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Nur Khan Airbase on arrival as he will be traveling with a high power delegation. Well-placed sources told The News here Saturday that President Gurbanguly will have extensive discussion regarding subjects of mutual interest and regional affairs including Afghanistan.

The two leaders will also discuss enhancing their trade ties and for improvement of working in the fold of Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) of which both the counties are members. The objective of the ECO is to establish a single market for goods and services among the member countries of the region.

The sources pointed out that Pakistan and Turkmenistan will also sign number of agreements for entering cooperation in the field of trade and economy. Pakistan expects investment in various projects from Turkmenistan. The president of Turkmenistan is a dentist by profession and holds PhD degree in medical sciences from Moscow. He maintains honorable title of Arkadag (protector) in his country. He signed TAPI agreement on December 13, 2015 in Ashgabat with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and vice president of India Hamid Ansari. The construction work on the 1,814-kilometre (1,127 mi) pipeline has already started and it will run from gas fields in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India. It starts from the Galknysh gas field in Turkmenistan.

In Afghanistan, TAPI pipeline will be constructed alongside the Kandhar-Heart Highway in western Afghanistan, and then via Quetta and Multan in Pakistan. The final destination of the pipeline will be the Indian town of Fazilka, near the border between Pakistan and India. It will cost about $10 billion. The sources said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and visiting president will also review the progress on the construction work of the pipeline.