[Diplomacy] : Meaning, Importance,

Significance for India and its neighbors

1. [Diplomacy] TAPI Gas pipeline
2. What is TAPI Pipeline?
3. Route of this piepline
4. What does Turkmenistan gain from this?
5. What does Pakistan Gain?
6. What does Afghanistan Gain?
7. What is in for India?
8. Whatre the Obstacles to TAPI pipeline
9. What is the Response of the US to TAPI project?
[Diplomacy] TAPI Gas pipeline
Another Good Article written by Varoon Bakshi, a civil service aspirant and a regular reader of
this site.
What is TAPI Pipeline?
A 1680 km pipeline from Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan India (TAPI)
Itll become operational by 2018.
It will carry 90 million metric standard cubic meters a day for a 30 year period.
India has to pay a transit fee to Pakistan and Afghanistan as the pipeline passes through
these nations.
Route of this piepline
The pipeline starts from the Dauletabad Oil fields in Turkmenistan and will move into
Afghanistan along a highway running from Herat to Kandahar and it will then enter
Pakistan via Quetta, Multan and from there to Fazilka (located at the Indo-Pak border) in
India.
What does Turkmenistan gain from this?
Turkmenistan holds 4 percent of the gas reserves of the world. It only exports gas to
Russia, but with the TAPI pipeline, it will be able to diversify its exports to nations like
India, Pakistan etc.
Turkmenistan will earn a lot of revenue by exporting gas through the pipeline
What does Pakistan Gain?
Moreover the potential extension of the pipeline to the Gwadar Port in Pakistan will
enable Pakistan to export gas to several countries.
What does Afghanistan Gain?
Afghanistan will earn transit fees as the pipeline passes through the country.
What is in for India?
India will benefit a lot as it will receive 38 million standard cubic meters of gas per day
improving Indias energy security.
New opportunities to the development of gas and engineering industries of the countries
involved in the project.
The project will also help to foster regional connectivity between the countries involved,
thus resulting in regional integration.
Whatre the Obstacles to TAPI pipeline
1. Regional instability, especially in the AF-PAK region continues to haunt the pipeline.
The planned route of the 1800 km pipeline will pass through 735 km of southern and
western Afghanistan, regions which are hotbeds of terrorism. Moreover with the
proposed withdrawal of NATO (especially US) forces from Afghanistan, the ability of
Afghanistan to maintain its security comes into question.
2. The pipeline will also pass through Pakistans southwestern Balochistan Province, a
region suffering from separatist and sectarian violence for the past 9 years. Moreover
poorly guarded oil/gas pipelines in the region have been favourite targets of ethnic
Baluch separatists fighting the Pakistan army.
3. Any unexpected rupture in Indo-Pakistan relationships can put the TAPI project into
jeopardy.
4. A lot of money is needed to finance this project. The cost of the project is estimated to be
12 billion Dollars. Asian Development Bank has already provided a few million Dollars
as technical assistance, however more money is required to finance this costly project,
which is difficult to get as foreign investors (MNCs, oil companies) are wary of investing
in the AF-PAK region.
What is the Response of the US to TAPI
project?
The US supports this project because it will be a good alternative to a proposed Indo-
Pakistan-Iranian pipeline (IPI), which has been stalled for quiet some time due to
pressure from the US against going through with the deal, moreover gas can be used as
an alternative to petrol, so perhaps it will lessen Indias dependence on oil and in turn
reduce its oil imports.
Moreover it will help US in isolating Iran.