Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, June 10

By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:

The Parliament of Turkmenistan adopted a resolution on ratification of the strategic partnership agreement between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, Trend reports referring to the Turkmen government.

The document itself was signed at the beginning of the year in Ashgabat by the presidents of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan - Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.

Moreover, an agreement on customs cooperation and air traffic, an agreement on the location of the international railway crossing on the common state border, memorandums of understanding in the oil and gas sector and on increasing the volume of Turkmen electricity supplied to Afghanistan’s Herat Province, were signed at the intergovernmental level.

A memorandum of understanding was also signed for the construction of the Aqina-Andkhoy railway, and the rules for organizing the railway communication between Serhetabat-Torghundi stations at the joint state border were adopted.

Turkmenistan, having a long border with Afghanistan, has repeatedly offered to hold talks in Ashgabat under the auspices of the UN to restore peace in the neighboring state.

Ashgabat is in favor of providing more ambitious and targeted international economic assistance to Afghanistan, primarily through the involvement of Afghanistan in the implementation of large infrastructure projects in the energy and transport sectors.

Examples of this are the projects of laying power transmission lines and fiber-optic communications along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) route, and the construction of railway lines from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan.

A large-scale project to lay gas pipeline to India and Pakistan for the supply of Turkmen gas is also connected to the territory of Afghanistan, where unstable situation has remained for a long time.

Observers believe that the implementation of this project may contribute to the restoration of Afghanistan, as it will allow creating jobs and provide the country with guaranteed income from transit.