DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Delegates at a multilateral summit in Turkmenistan are expected to make major progress on a gas pipeline crossing four Asian nations, an Afghan official said.
Wahidulah Shahrani, the Afghan minister of mines, told Indian newspaper The Hindu on the sidelines of an investment conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that leaders from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India are planning to meet in Ashgabat next week to discuss a major gas pipeline.
"Our team is already in Ashgabat to prepare for this meeting," he added.
The 1,043-mile natural gas pipeline could transport natural gas from the Dauletabad field in Turkmenistan, one of the world's largest. The Western-backed project is viewed as a rival to Iran's plans to transit natural gas from its South Pars gas field to Pakistan and India through the so-called Peace Pipeline.
Shahrani said the pipeline would cost around $6.5 billion, which could be supported in part by the Asian Development Bank. Construction should be completed as early as 2013, he added.
He stressed that India and Pakistan viewed the project as "positive" despite long-term animosity between the two nuclear-armed foes.
