| Publication |
2011.
|
| Summary/Abstract |
THE IDEA OF BUILDING a gas pipeline from Central Asia to Pakistan and India with transit through Afghanistan first came to light in the Soviet Union as early as the 1980s. However, the war in Afghanistan prevented this project from being developed. In 1993, Bridas S.A.P.I.C. (Argentina) revived this idea by presenting former President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov with the Trans-Afghan Gas Pipeline project.1 Two years later, the leaders of Turkmenistan and Pakistan signed an agreement on drawing up a technical feasibility report. * At this time, the Americans, who were trying to build up their geopolitical influence in Central Asia, also joined its development. In 1995, America's Unocal appeared on the Turkmen market, managing to displace Bridas SA.P.I.C. with the support of the U.S. Department of State. It is worth noting that, according to certain data, the current Afghan leader Hamid Karzai worked for Unocal right up until 2001.2 The Afghans also supported the idea of the project; the "good" members of the Taliban were enthusiastic about the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, insisting that the United States hold talks with them as the representatives of Afghanistan.3
|