30th anniversary of Turkmen-Pakistani diplomatic relations celebrated in Islamabad
The Embassy of Turkmenistan in Islamabad, together with the Pakistan Institute for Peace and Diplomatic Studies, held a seminar dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The forum was attended by representatives of the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, prominent politicians, heads of think tanks, business circles and public organizations of Pakistan, heads of diplomatic missions of foreign countries in Islamabad, and the media.
In their speeches, the seminar participants noted that Pakistan was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Turkmenistan. The country also co-authored a number of UN General Assembly resolutions initiated by Turkmenistan, including “On the Permanent Neutrality of Turkmenistan” and “On the International Day of Neutrality”.
Over the years of cooperation between the countries, regular political contacts have been established at the level of heads of state and heads of foreign affairs agencies. Today, both countries are successfully interacting both in a bilateral and multilateral format – within the framework of major international organizations such as the UN, OIC, ECO, the Non-Aligned Movement and other authoritative international and regional structures.
An analysis of bilateral relations indicates the potential and a wide range of partnerships that are successfully developing in key areas, primarily fuel and energy, as well as trade and economic. One of the important projects is the construction of the transnational gas pipeline Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) with a capacity of 33 billion cubic meters per year. The project, designed to ensure long-term supplies of Turkmen natural gas, will also serve to strengthen global energy security and make it possible to give additional stability to the entire system of political and economic ties on the continent.
In parallel with the gas pipeline, a power line and a fiber optic communication line (FOC) will be laid, which will give impetus to the development of industry and other sectors of the national economy of Pakistan. In addition to providing clean natural gas and electricity, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the environment, the commissioning of the above facilities will create tens of thousands of additional jobs in Pakistan and improve the well-being of people.
Job creation is particularly important for Pakistan as a country with a rapidly growing population of over 220 million, where two-thirds of the population is under 30 years of age.
Along with this, there are great prospects in the field of transport communications between the two countries. Pakistan can join the chain of international transport corridors passing through the territory of Turkmenistan in the North-South and East-West directions.
During the seminar, Ambassador of Turkmenistan Atajan Movlamov had a conversation with the State Minister of Petroleum of Pakistan Musadiq Masood Malik to discuss the possibilities of further promotion of the TAPI and TAP projects.
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