Pakistan, Turkmenistan to form working group on electricity transmission line talks

By
APP
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Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov with Pakistan Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Turkmenistan will establish a working group to discuss and finalise negotiations on electricity transmission line from Turkmenistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan.

The decision to establish a joint working group was taken here Tuesday in a delegation-level meeting between the two countries.

The Pakistan side was headed by Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan while the Turkmenistan team was jointly led by Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Energy Minister Döwran Rejepow.

During the meeting, Omar Ayub Khan said that there exists a huge potential of trade and development with the interconnection of the two regions.

He said that Pakistan's location offers the shortest and most feasible route via its deeps sea ports to the Central Asian States.

The minister stressed that peace and stability must return to Afghanistan which will not only be in the interest of Pakistan but also South and Central Asia.

Highlighting the policies that the present government in Pakistan is undertaking in the energy sector, Omar Ayub Khan said that an open and competitive electricity market is being envisaged which will not only offer exponential investment opportunities to entrepreneurs but also open vistas for regional electricity trade.

He said that grid inter-connectivity among Central Asian States and South Asian countries will also attract other countries especially along the CPEC route.

Foreign Minister for Turkmenistan thanked the Pakistani side for extending a warm welcome to the delegation. He agreed with Pakistan’s Minister for Power regarding the importance of existing deep-rooted relations between the two countries and expressed desire to further boost the relations to new heights.

He also agreed that both countries must take solid steps to utilise their resources for development of their people.

Turkmenistan's Minister for Energy explained that Turkmenistan has huge reservoirs of natural gas and hence its utilisation in making affordable electricity is also very feasible.

He said that Turkmenistan has already established huge power generation facilities and has surplus electricity available at affordable and competitive rates that can be exported to Pakistan via a transmission line.

Turkmenistan Foreign Minister calls on President Alvi

President Dr Arif Alvi met Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov Ovezgeldiyevich, who called on him at the Awan-e-Sadr today.

The president said that Pakistan could offer Turkmenistan the shortest route to the open sea through Gwadar seaport and its national road and railways networks.

He said that Pakistan and Turkmenistan enjoyed close and cordial fraternal relations, rooted in a common faith, culture and history.

He noted that both countries enjoy close cooperation on bilateral and multilateral fora including OIC, UN and ECO.

President Alvi emphasised that Pakistan is a peace-loving country, desirous of good relations with all its neighbours.

He underscored that Pakistan is ready to enter into dialogue with India on all matters of mutual interest and work towards de-escalation of tensions in South Asia.

He further stated that Pakistan would like all friendly countries to urge India to work with Pakistan for the amicable resolution of Kashmir dispute in accordance with UNSC resolutions.

President Alvi and Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan agreed on the early implementation of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline project.

Alvi said that Pakistan was planning to hold the ground-breaking ceremony of TAPI Gas Pipeline Project on its soil on a mutually agreed date.

He also welcomed Turkmenistan’s offer for export of 1000MW electricity to Pakistan and signing of the Intergovernmental Agreement between Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.

The president pointed out that existing trade volume was not in commensurate with the potential and cordial ties between the two countries, and underlined that there was a need to further enhance bilateral trade and economic relations.

He highlighted that joint ventures in various sectors like agriculture, construction, petrochemicals and information technology need to be explored.

The president further emphasised the need for early finalisation of the MoU between Gwadar and Turkmenbashi on Sister Port Relationship.