Sushma Swaraj holds talks with Turkmen counterpart on TAPI gas pipeline

ASHGABAT: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today held talks with her Turkmen counterpart Rashid Meredov on key issues, including TAPI gas pipeline and Ashgabat Agreement on trade and transit.

Swaraj, who had a stopover here on her way to Moscow where she will co-chair the annual India-Russia Inter- Governmental Commission meeting with her Russian counterpart, met Meredov who said that they will be sending the Ashgabat Agreement copy to India for further discussion.

The discussions came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Turkmenistan in July expressed gratitude for Turkmenistan's support to India in joining the Ashgabat Agreement on trade and transit.

The Ashgabat Agreement is a transit agreement established in year 2011 between the countries of Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Oman. Kazakhstan has also joined the bloc.

The USD 10 billion TAPI -- Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India -- project is expected to bring Turkmen natural gas from its giant Dauletabad and Galkynysh gas fields to Pakistan and India. The project is likely to take off in December.